By Hunter Hughes -- February 17, 2010
The Boston Public Library may be forced to take some drastic measures in the wake of possible steep cuts in its state funding. Despite more frequent library users during the recession, the BPL will have to make up for a $3.6 million budget gap. In a morning meeting, the library's board of trustees gauged that it has two different options cut eight to ten of the neighborhood branches while strengthening the remaining 16 to 18, or drastically cut hours and staff everywhere.
The first proposal would get rid of up to 35 staff positions. However, the elimination of the neighborhood branches would force library visitors to travel farther between branches.
The other proposal that suggests cutting hours and staff has a variety of different methods as to how to approach it. While it would keep all 26 branches open, 18 of the locations would only be open just one to three days a week. Other methods included eliminating 38 positions at the main branch in Copley Square, lowering the number of service points, and closing five Sundays a year and on holiday weekends. Anyways the board sliced it, the BPL branches would see a slash in hours anywhere between 50 and 85 percent.
But this option was met with some harsh criticism by many of the trustees. Trustee Paul LaCamera says that although both options are bad, the second one would just be terrible. Trustee Donna DePrisco agreed by adding in that a schedule where the libraries would only be open one to three days a week would be as useless as if the libraries weren't open at all.
Already Boston has made significant library cuts including thirteen layoffs and $1.5 million cut on the book budget. Now it suffers even worse budget cuts. While the Budget was at $8.9 million in 2009, the state now proposes that it will only provide $2.4 million by 2011.
But the cuts are forcing the board to rethink on how they deliver their services. In an interview with the Boston Globe, chairman of the board Jeffery Rudman said, "It is possible that we are over-bricked, over-mortared, and under-wired." In other words, the BPL will begin to look towards its electronic services. With a 15 percent increase in visits to their websites, and a 33% increase in the downloading of audio-books has the board thinking that they might not have taken advantage of an obvious resource.
Library President Amy Ryan says she is fighting to restore funding for the Boston Public Library. And many Boston citizens in the meeting this morning gave suggestions as to how she could do that. While one suggested to fire the board of trustees for "letting things get to this point," Mary Ann Nelson, a resident of Mission Hill, gave a sound suggestion of suggesting a small membership fee. "You have 300,000 library card holders. You charge each of them $10 and right there you have $3 million."
The trustees have not yet voted on the proposals. And they have vowed to hold public meetings over the next six to eight weeks while the decisions are being made.
