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Library budget proposal for FY 2023-24 cut to 4.5 positions and unified hours after a 25% reduction scenario
The Director of Library Services told the Library Advisory Board on August 14, 2023 that, after she presented three budget options to the council on July 27, Mayor Cole Stanley asked what programs would be eliminated under a 25% reduction in force, which she said would mean about 19 of the library's 77 positions and 11 layoffs. After public comments, including four speakers at the council's August 1 meeting, she was asked to modify the proposal; the version scheduled for August 9 cut 4.5 full-time equivalents, set the same 64 weekly hours at all five libraries, and reduced the library budget from $4.2 million to $4.0 million.[1]
What the sources say
- ✓ Verified
Director of Library Services (as recorded in the board minutes): The August 14, 2023 Library Advisory Board minutes record that "Mayor Cole Stanley asked what programs would have to be eliminated if a 25% reduction in force was implemented." The Director said the library employed 77 people at five locations, so a 25% reduction "would mean about 19 staff members," and with current vacancies "it would mean 11 layoffs of current staff," with no Saturday or evening programs, no help with citizenship paperwork, an end to school outreach such as Battle of the Books, and branches closing on alternating Sundays. This was a projection presented by the Director, not an adopted budget. [1]
- ✓ Verified
After "Public comments started flooding in from the community" and four individuals spoke at the August 1 council meeting, the modified proposal scheduled for August 9 provided "a decrease of 4.5 full time equivalents, which will translate to 3 full time and 3 part time positions," unified hours at all five libraries (Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday 2-6 p.m., 64 hours a week), more hours at East, North and Northwest and fewer at Downtown and Southwest, and "reduces the library's budget for FY 2023-2024 from $4.2 million down to $4.0 million." The Director said the Texas State Library and Archives Commission requires at least 64 unduplicated hours a week. [1]
- Fte reduction
- 4.5
- Budget before
- $4,200,000
- Budget after
- $4,000,000
- ⚠ Sources differ
The Library's FY 2023-24 budget figure differs between the Director's August 2023 description of the modified proposal and the City's final budget book. The two may measure different things; no source read for this site reconciles them.
Reported value 1[1]
- Value
- $4.0 million
Library budget under the modified proposal scheduled for August 9, 2023, as described to the Library Advisory Board (down from $4.2 million)
Reported value 2[2]
- Value
- $4,370,189
General Fund business unit 1260 - Library, 2023 Budget column of the FY 2023-24 final budget book's summary of expenditures (2022 Budget column $4,435,327)
