Library Considers Employee Layoffs Board Also Proposes $1 Mailing Fee To Help Balance ‘96 Budget

Money woes may cause the Spokane public libraries to lay off employees to balance the 1996 budget.

The board of trustees will meet today at 4:30 p.m. to discuss next year’s $6.5 million spending plan. Board members also propose charging library users $1 to mail books to their homes, a free service now.

Discussion about possible layoffs will take place in a closed-door session, said interim library director Aubrey George. “They involve ongoing labor negotiations,” he said.

George said trustees hope discussions will avoid layoffs, but he added he can’t elaborate on the proposals.

“We are trying to work out an agreement with the union that will save the library $171,000,” George said. “If not, we’ll be forced to lay people off.”

About $5.8 million of next year’s library budget will come from the city’s general fund. The rest will come from fees and fines.

The city gave the library $200,000 more for 1996 than this year, but dwindling reserves mean next year’s total budget is down about $300,000 from 1995.

“We haven’t had a decrease in revenues. … We’re a bigger operation,” said Steve Shagina, the library’s business manager.

One new library opened this year and another will open next year, George said.

Several of the new branches replace libraries located in rented space with lower costs. The new libraries are bigger and more expensive to run, he said.

George said the library looked at several ways to increase revenues and decrease costs.

Eight employees chose to take the city’s voluntary severance program.

Beginning Jan. 1, the library plans to charge $1 to mail books to customers. But homebound library users will continue to get the service free of charge.

The library will spend about $73,000 this year mailing books. But George could not estimate how much money the proposal would generate because it might discourage people from getting books through the mail.”This is one very visible way the library can recover a percentage of operating costs,” George said.

The mailing fee will be credited to users’ accounts. When the bill reaches $10, the customer must pay before checking out another book.

Despite cutbacks and possible layoffs, the proposed budget includes an average 3.25 percent wage increase for union and non-union employees, George said.

“If you took the whole library and didn’t give any (cost-of-living adjustments), it wouldn’t make up the $171,000 we’re short,” he said.

, DataTimes