County library users can breathe a sigh of relief after an
optimistic library governing board passed the 2004-05 budget with
no additional cuts.
County library users can breathe a sigh of relief after an optimistic library governing board passed the 2004-05 budget with no additional cuts.
The board passed a $23.2 million budget by a 5-4 vote, a 12 percent decrease over the 2003-04 year, according to Morgan Hill City Councilman Steve Tate, who is the city’s representative on the Santa Clara County Library System Joint Powers Authority.
“And we’ll meet again on Aug. 26, to change it (when more information is available),” said Tate, who voted no.
Gilroy Library officials will wait to see what happens with the state budget, and while their hours of operation may be cut, there are no plans to do reduce the current 54 hours per week the library is open at this point, according to Children’s Program Librarian Linda Glawatz.
The library is open Monday and Tuesday from 1 to 9 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m
Morgan Hill Library hours will still be reduced from 54 to 30 as announced in April after a parcel tax extension failed in the March election.
Morgan Hill City Librarian Nancy Howe said earlier that she will decide how to allocate her money but it looked as if the cuts were inevitable.
Currently, the library is open six days a week. A new library scheduled has not been determined.
The budget for new books and materials will still be cut but, if all goes as expected, Tate said, no staff will be laid off.
This will set the stage for another ballot initiative to restore the parcel tax and, with it, hours and books, but without trauma to librarians.
The reason for optimism is a plea librarians and library boards statewide made to the governor just before the latest revision of the new state budget.
They asked that libraries be considered a “special district” which would exempt them from the property tax shift to the state and have a catastrophic effect on library budgets.
“If the exemption goes through we won’t have to make any cuts at all,” Tate said.
He was in favor of using some of county library’s technology reserves to cover some staff hours if the special district exemption were to fall through, but the idea did not pass the board. No layoffs are contemplated if the exemption is made.
Morgan Hill’s library is part of the county system which also includes Gilroy, Saratoga, Cupertino, Campbell, Monte Sereno and Milpitas.
It does not include Los Gatos, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Palo Alto or any library in San Jose.
