Reply With QuoteBOARD OF TRUSTEES BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
MEETING DATE: September 1, 2005
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: F.1.a. RESOLUTION: 2005-36
2006 System Plan BACKGROUND:
Late in 2004, a proposed “Red Budget” threatened to curtail virtually all operations of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library in 2005. A revised County budget, with a property tax levy of $21.7 million for Library purposes, was adopted in December 2004, saving the Library System from disaster but imposing revenue reductions that necessitated personnel and service
cuts throughout the B&ECPL. Further, over the first eight months of 2005, Erie County has failed to provide a $5 million capital appropriation for the purchase of new library materials, which compounds the Library’s fiscal dilemma and forces additional cuts in fourth quarter revenue for every part of the System in order to fund the purchase of a minimal amount of new library materials for public use.
The County Executive has indicated formally that the most he will recommend in financial support for the Library in 2006 is $21.7 million, the same levy approved for 2005. No capital funds for library materials will be recommended.
This amount is more than $7 million less in operating and library materials support than the Library received in 2004. Current estimates project that a $21.7 million appropriation will sustain only 36 of the present 52 public service outlets, and those remaining locations must operate on compressed schedules, with reduced and/or reconfigured staffing. Some libraries cannot be funded to meet minimum New York State standards and must seek waivers or secure supplemental funding from other sources to meet those mandates. Some libraries must close in 2006. Some must close prior to the end of 2005. The Board’s Planning Committee charged staff to conduct an inventory of every public library location in Erie County to determine which have the greatest capacity to deliver the most (in services and resources) to the largest number of people. Using the results of this comprehensive appraisal, the Planning Committee began the process of identifying which libraries might remain open and which should close. The Planning Committee weighed 19 individual factors.
In addition to building size, condition and surrounding population density, the assessment considered geographic isolation, various activity levels, the economic circumstances of each service area and several other reliable measures.
When all locations were plotted on a map, it became clear almost immediately that there were geographic gaps in the service network. In a few areas, libraries of limited capacity happened to be clustered together. To close all of them would leave substantial areas without access to library service.
At the Planning Committee’s request, revisions were made. Some libraries identified for potential closing were recommended for restoration; others were reconsidered for closing. Every library that might remain viable was scaled back to the bare minimum and reorganized to operate at lower cost by downgrading
positions, shifting some jobs from full-time to part-time and introducing a new para-professional job title that could perform certain tasks at lower cost than other titles.
Despite these efforts, many patrons and public officials expressed concern that large areas of rural Erie County, where a single small library serves an entire 40-square-mile municipality, deserve to retain some semblance of service -- even if the County Library System cannot provide the level of financial support it has in years past. Over recent weeks, numerous representatives of County, City, Town and Village governments and trustees of individual libraries requested meetings with B&ECPL trustees and staff to discuss their individual circumstances and to consider creative and collaborative alternatives. Some have committed
additional local funds providing the System can supply enough revenue to give them a “fighting chance” to keep their library open. Modest concessions to some contract libraries might enable them to remain open if local dollars are identified to offset System losses.
Resolution 2005-36 transmits the Planning Committee’s recommendation to fund 36 libraries in 2006 to the full Board of Trustees for formal action.
ACTION REQUIRED:
Motion to adopt Resolution 2005-36
PROPOSED RESOLUTION 2005-36
WHEREAS, in late 2004, a proposed “Red Budget” threatened to curtail virtually all operations of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library in 2005,
and
WHEREAS, a revised County budget, with a property tax levy of $21.7 million for Library purposes, was adopted in December 2004, saving the Library System from disaster but imposing revenue reductions that necessitated personnel and service cuts throughout the B&ECPL, and
WHEREAS, over the first eight months of 2005, Erie County has failed to provide a $5 million capital appropriation for the purchase of new library materials, compounding the Library’s fiscal dilemma, forcing additional cuts in fourth quarter revenue for every part of the System in order to fund the purchase of a minimal amount of new library materials for public use, and
WHEREAS, the County Executive has indicated formally that he will not recommend 2006 B&ECPL operating support in excess of $21.7 million, the same levy approved for 2005, and
WHEREAS, this amount is more than $7 million less in operating and library materials support than Erie County provided in 2004, and
WHEREAS, current estimates project that a $21.7 million appropriation will sustain only 36 of the present 52 locations, and
WHEREAS, those remaining locations must operate on compressed schedules, with reduced and/or reconfigured staffing, and
WHEREAS, some of those libraries cannot be funded to meet minimum New York State standards and must seek waivers or secure supplemental funding from other sources to meet those mandates, and
WHEREAS, the Board’s Planning Committee has conducted an exhaustive inventory of every public library location in Erie County to determine which have the greatest capacity to deliver the most (in services and resources) to the largest number of people, and
WHEREAS, this comprehensive appraisal was based on 19 individual factors, and
WHEREAS, the results of this System-wide assessment have been
reviewed and revised to address various deficiencies and concerns, now
therefore be it RESOLVED, that the B&ECPL Board of Trustees approves a plan to reduce the Library System from 52 to 36 public service locations, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the following libraries have been identified for B&ECPL funding support in 2006:
Angola Public Library / Anna M. Reinstein Branch (Cheektowaga)
Audubon Library (Amherst) / Boston Free Library
Central Library (Buffalo) / Clarence Public Library
Clearfield Branch (Amherst) / Collins Public Library
Concord Public Library / Crane Branch (Buffalo)
Dudley Branch (Buffalo)/ East Aurora Library (Aurora)
East Clinton Branch (Buffalo) / East Delavan Branch (Buffalo)
Eden Library / Eggertsville-Snyder Branch (Amherst)
Elma Public Library / Ewell Free Library (Alden)
Merriweather Branch (Buffalo) / Grand Island Memorial Library
Hamburg Library / Kenilworth Branch (Tonawanda, Town)
Kenmore (Tonawanda, Town) / Julia Boyer Reinstein Branch (Cheektowaga)
Lackawanna Public Library / Lake Shore Branch (Hamburg)
Lancaster Library / Marilla Free Library
Newstead Public Library / Niagara Branch (Buffalo)
North Collins Public Library / North Park Branch (Buffalo)
Orchard Park Public Library / Riverside Branch (Buffalo)
Tonawanda (City) Library / West Seneca Public Library
And be it finally,
RESOLVED, that individual contract library boards of trustees be notifiedof these decisions at the earliest opportunity, for those boards retain statutory authority over the library or libraries within their chartered service area and retain responsibility for any formal action regarding the closing of those libraries.
Approved by a vote of 13-1 at a meeting of the Board of Trustees
of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library on September 1, 2005.
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