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ATTACHnni=NT R <br />8.A. - Page 17 <br />LIBRARY <br />Library Department recommended reductions seek to preserve access to library services where possible <br />and to eliminate vacant positions rather than filled positions. <br />Non -personnel reductions include approximately $25,000 in miscellaneous supplies and services <br />expenditures that historically went unused at the end of each FY and would have a minimal impact on <br />services. With the Library materials budget, the proposed reduction of $96,534 will have two significant <br />impacts: one is the elimination of Link Plus, a service that allows customers to borrow materials from non - <br />Peninsula Library System libraries and was used approximately 2,000 times last year. The remainder is <br />approximately a 10% reduction in overall purchasing power for books, DVDs, magazines, and online <br />resources, which will lead to reductions in both the depth and breadth of materials available to library <br />users (and associated reduction in circulation of library materials). Finally, the reduction of $17,000 <br />previously utilized to support the Familias Unidas program in two Redwood City schools could affect <br />approximately 80 families per year if alternative funding from other community partners in not found. The <br />Library will continue to participate in the curriculum of Familias Unidas programs at schools with other <br />funding sources for the program. <br />As mentioned in the beginning of this document, a main budget principle when evaluating reductions was <br />to assess vacant positions to avoid the elimination of filled positions where possible. Unfortunately, the <br />Library only had two vacant positions available to eliminate. The work of one vacant 0.63 FTE Senior Library <br />Page position can be absorbed by the remaining Library Pages. The elimination of the vacant half-time Teen <br />Services position will have a greater impact, as the work will be diverted to the existing 3.0 FTE of Children's <br />Librarians, diminishing their capacity to produce the programs and activities for children that are a hallmark <br />of the Redwood City Public Library service. <br />After the non -personnel reductions and elimination of vacancies, Library staff assessed the number of filled <br />positions that would need to be reduced to meet budget targets, and what the public impact of those <br />reductions would be. Numerous Library management positions have been eliminated when budget <br />reductions were required in the past, leaving less than half the number of managers in the organization <br />than there once were, and further reductions would create negative impacts to Library services. <br />Additionally, staff do not recommend reductions in Project READ as this would have significant service <br />impacts and significant revenue reductions since City -funded staff provide a matching basis for State and <br />Foundation grants that support Project READ operations. Existing administrative staff is already minimal, <br />and so the only remaining option is to reduce public services personnel directly tied to Library service <br />hours. <br />The Recommended Budget includes reduced library hours beginning in January 2019. The total library <br />hours reduction resulting from this plan is 23%, from 208 hours per week to 161. The Library chose the <br />specific hours based on several criteria including hourly circulation and visitor counts showing the least - <br />busy hours, opportunities to create operational efficiencies considerations by reducing "two shift" days of <br />10 or 11 hours to "one shift" days of 7 or 8 hours, and the need to maintain an easy -to -remember set of <br />service hours for the public. Staff recommendations seek to minimize full-day library closures, and balance <br />the needs for different library hours for different constituencies (such as mornings for youth programs and <br />senior users versus evening and weekend access for working people and community groups). <br />