Library Board Forced To Defend Closures Council Asks Why Downtown Branch Must Bear Brunt Of I-695 Budget Cuts

The director of the Spokane Public Library system and the system’s trustees were grilled Monday night about how they decided to put the downtown library on reduced hours to meet budget constraints.

The grilling came during a Spokane City Council budget hearing and Councilman Steve Eugster held the tongs and fork.

The downtown library went to reduced hours and closed on Saturdays last December. The reduction was due to budget cuts from Initiative 695.

Library Director Aubrey George and trustees Colleen Brandon and Diann Brown told the council that the reduced hours and Saturday closure were meant to have the least impact on library patrons systemwide.

But Eugster challenged the decision, arguing it was based purely on a body count of patrons through the various branches of the library system and not on a qualitative analysis.

“Did you try to relate usage to investment?” Eugster asked. “Because the lion’s share of the bond issue for the libraries was for downtown. It doesn’t seem you’re analyzing the capital investment in downtown.”

City voters approved the $28.8 million library bond issue in 1990.

Eugster drove at his point for a while, making his argument clearer as he went along. However, in the process he started agitating the two library trustees, who hold their positions as volunteers.

“I’ll excuse you for interrupting me,” Brandon said at one point.

“OK, go ahead,” Eugster said.

A tense silence followed with Eugster and Brandon staring at each other. Eugster waited for Brandon to formally excuse him.

At another point, while Brandon was trying to explain how the trustees arrived at the decision to close the downtown branch on Saturdays, Eugster again lit in with pointed questioning.

Brandon, suggesting the matter could be explained outside of the City Council meeting, said “Let’s chat.”

“I don’t chat. I ask questions,” Eugster said. “And I do it in a public arena.”

George said the library didn’t look at patron usage based on which people were going to the more expensive branches.

“Our data is based on statistics, not on qualitative analysis” he said. “We used the best statistics at the time, which was gate count.”

The issue of the downtown library reducing hours and closing on Saturdays was left unresolved.

The library needs an additional $350,000 in its budget for 2001 from the city to reopen the downtown library to its previous hours.

“We really didn’t ask for the money,” George said. “If they give it to us, we will be happy to reopen downtown.”

The library is hoping to get 96 percent of its $7.8 million budget from the city’s general fund for 2001.

It expects to get roughly $500,000 more from the city than last year, but that will only keep pace with inflation, George said.