Proposed City Budget to Reduce Library Services
Our local libraries in Forest Hill and Bon Air will be directly affected if the new budget by Mayor Jones is passed and the Main Library will be hit the hardest. We were passed along the following letter and wanted to share it with people in the Hills and Heights community.
Dear Richmond Public Library Supporter:
As you know, Mayor Jones has released his proposed operating budget for the City of Richmond for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009. The proposed budget includes two significant reductions to Richmond Public Library services, and I want to give you some background on these proposed reductions.
Earlier this year, the City’s budget office directed each department to submit reductions of 10% to their FY2010 budgets. For the Library, this is roughly $540,000 in cost reductions. The Library Board reviewed options, and then submitted the options that we believe will have the least impact on the library’s long-term stability and services.
To put a reduction of $540,000 in perspective, the Library’s total budget for books and materials is $477,000; the total cost of all general operating costs (supplies, security services, cataloging costs) is $233,000; the average total personnel costs for each branch library is $ 240,000. In other words, a $540,000 reduction is extremely difficult for a library budget which already operates in a highly cost-effective manner for the services it provides to the citizen of Richmond.
We reduced our basic operating costs by $70,000. In addition to these, the two significant reductions to library services as proposed in the Mayor’s operating budget are:
- Reducing staff and hours of service at the Main Library. New operating hours would be 10:00-7:00 Monday-Thursday, 10:00-6:00 on Friday. The Main Library would be closed on Saturday and Sunday. Four full-time and one part-time position will be eliminated. Estimated cost of this reduction: $300,000.
- Ending the contract with Chesterfield County which allows Richmond residents in the 23225 and 23235 zip code areas use of the Bon Air Branch Library. Estimated cost of this reduction: $170,000.
As you can see, the Library Board had to make some difficult decisions to meet the Mayor’s budget request.
We believe that reducing the hours and staff at the Main Library will have less of an impact on overall library services than taking the same reductions at branch libraries, because the Main Library currently has the longest hours of service and the most staff.
However -
- 550-750 people per day came to the Main Library the week of March 16, 2009
- Up to 400 people per day use the public access computers at the Main Library.
- The Gellman Room concert series on Saturdays at the Main Library has a 30+ year history of providing quality performances for downtown area residents.
- The Main Library’s large collection serves the whole community, and this valuable asset will be less available to all with the reduced hours of service.
The contract with Chesterfield County for the Bon Air Library is at the end of its 20-year period, and the contract can be allowed to expire. The Westover Hills Library is available (although less accessible) for the residents who are primarily affected by this budget reduction.
However -
- Terminating the contract may have significant impact on the 6,400 residents whose most convenient library is the Bon Air Library. Chesterfield County may charge these residents in the future for access to the Bon Air Library. For them, if they are charged for this service by Chesterfield County, it is the equivalent of closing “their” branch library.
I hope you will join us in contacting your City Council member and asking them to restore the funds to Richmond Public Library’s budget for FY2010. Please let them know that you appreciate the difficult budget decisions they must make and that though we will see reductions to services in virtually all departments including schools, fire and police in this difficult year, circulation at the Richmond Public Library has increased 13% in the last year. The proposed reductions will affect many who now need access to their library more than ever.
If you are concerned about the specific budget reductions for the library, please contact the Mayor’s office or your City Council member and attend the public hearing City Council will hold on the proposed budget on Monday, May 4 at 6:00 pm in City Council Chambers in City Hall.
City Council members:
District 1: Bruce Tyler
357-6007 or 646-5935
District 2: Charles Samuels
646-6531 or 646-6532
District 3: Chris Hilbert
646-0070 or 646-6055
District 4: Kathy Graziano
320-2454
District 5: Marty Jewell
646-6050 or 646-5724
District 6: Ellen Robertson
646-5348 or 646-7964
District 7: Betty Squire
646-5429 or 646-3012
District 8: Reva Trammell
646-6592 or 646-6591
District 9: Doug Conner
646-5497
Thank you for your support of the Richmond Public Library.
Sincerely,
Gregory A. Forman
Chairman
Library Board of Trustees
Clare Osdene Schapiro
Vice-Chairman
Library Board of Trustees
The only thing to add to this is that the charge expected for Chesterfield to allow Richmond residents to use the Bon Air branch is about $27-29 per card, per year. I am told that this is the only library in the reion in wich reciprocity is not offered to neighborring localities…dates back to the original contract.
Thanks for the added info David. Twenty-seven or twenty-nine will cause quite a bit of sticker shock for those that have been using this service for free. I didn’t even know about it until I read this letter.
While I am worried about the reduced library services I am more worried about them closing our fire station (I think its Station 20). I believe the city has already started daily rotating closures of stations. I feel like the city is reducing our “insurance policy” of fire coverage.
Hey Jim, much as it pained me, i looked at the mayor’s proposed budget, specifically at fire dept services and did not see any closures. http://www.richmondgov.com/getBlobD.asp?BlobID=A0C0B0D0D
it is a hideously large document but probably helpful in conversations such as this!
Page, thanks for taking a look at the budget. We have a few firefighters in the neighborhood and I will try to get confirmation of the rotating station closures.
Thanks Jim, I know that one of our readers, Jennifer, is a firefighter, perhaps she can chime in here!
I can find nothing in the budget to indicate any closures, or rolling closures. The personnel complement remains unchanged, although the budget is reduced by 4.7%. Still 428 FD positions.
Since we are talking budget; the mayor’s draft continues the reduction in service for parks maintenance. There are three people responsible for all the maintenance in all of James River Park. The budget further reduced positions in the department. Mrs. Graziano has proposed an amendment to add three positions earmarked for park maintenance, and has provided a funding source from within the budget. Ironically, the CIP budget has more than $3 million to acquire additional riverfront open space, at the same time the operating budget reduces the money necessary to take care of the parks.
[...] Hills and Heights’ community weblog has posted a letter outlining the potential impact of budg…. The most significant changes in hours and policies that would impact residents are targeted at the Main Library in downtown Richmond and a long-time contract allowing Richmond residents to use Chesterfield’s Bon Air branch. Posted by John at 5:17am [...]
So, those of us near Bon Air can use
continue to use other Chesterfield libraries for free, but will have to pay for using Bon Air branch? I have had free reciprocal agreement cards for Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield libraries for over 20 years. Why is Bon Air branch the only one not participating reciprocally?
HARKEN O’ YE OF LITTLE FAITH!
I am a board member for Richmond Public Libraries and I am very pleased to pass the following information on from RPL director Harriet Coulter:
Becky Dixon, Deputy County Manager for Chesterfield County said that Chesterfield is NOT considering charging a non-resident fee for use of their libraries at this time. Ms. Dixon asked our help in allaying fears that Chesterfield might charge such a fee for non-residents in the coming budget year.
PLEASE help us control rumors!
Feel free to contact me via http://www.southsiderichmond.org I’d put my email here but I’d rather not increase my spam load!
PS Is that Dan Ream the amazing research guru from VCU? If so, I tip my hat to you!
And here we thought, getting information from the library itself, that we’d gotten it from the horse’s mouth!
Thanks?
I’m sorry, I think confused matters, Shennen. Our original post was provided by folks associated with the library. that’s the horse’s mouth, not you in this case! I didn’t mean to sound rude and ungrateful for the clarification you provided!
No offense at all, I was confused! We met this evening and the Bon Air issue was discussed, but I have no news to report. I’ll see about releasing some more details on that issue, but some of what I know may already be known.
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