The library budget will remain flat until next July. But it’s unclear how it’ll look after that.
So, in the meantime, the system won’t be filling any open positions.
Assistant County Manager Dave Solaro said that could mean some locations won’t be able to keep regular hours.
“There are some instances where we can't trade staff between branches, and so we might have to make a choice to reduce some hours temporarily,” Solaro said.
The library system was left without a designated leader when Acting Director Stacy McKenzie went on temporary leave earlier this month.
Solaro stepped in as liaison between the trustees and the county administration. Library board trustees are appointed by elected leaders.
Solaro asked the board to essentially restart its budget conversation from the ground up.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Solaro also asked board trustees to send him their vision for the ideal level of service the library system should provide by Sept. 5.
However, the public won’t be able to provide feedback directly. Instead, Solaro said residents can tell individual trustees what they want for the library.
“I suggest anybody that wants to provide some information to the Library Board of Trustees, go ahead and send them an email,” Solaro said.
Once the suggestions from the board have been sent in, along with any feedback from the public they choose to share, county staff will begin working to figure out how much it’ll cost to run the library in the coming fiscal year.
