LJ Cover Library Not Immune to Budget Woes

Greenburgh PL, Elmsford, NY, announces cuts in hours and services

-- Library Journal, 12/09/2009

• Library project on cover of LJ's December architecture issue
• Materials budget down 71% since 2006
• Budget pressures caused by costs library can't control

As is not uncommon in the library world, money for new construction is not necessarily followed by sufficient operating funds. So it is for the Greenburgh Public Library (GPL), Elmsford, NY, whose stunning design earned it cover placement in the December 2009 architecture issue of Library Journal—out December 15—thanks to its $20.4 million addition and renovation project, which doubled the size of the building.

In 2006, GPL had a budget of $3.69 million; now it is $3.27 million, a decline of 11.5 percent. But next year GPL’s budget is expected to be $3.14 million, an additional four percent budget cut that translates into reduced hours and services as of January 2010, according to a press release from the library.

Service cuts
GPL will close on Sundays and at 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays, instead of 9 p.m.; those are the slowest circulation days and evenings.

Because of reductions in part-time staff—the numbers haven’t been announced—there will be no programs for adults, teens, or children on Saturdays and on Mondays. While full-time staff size remains the same, GPL has its smallest full-time staff in some 16 years: 22 people, down from 28 in 2005. 

GPL has also squeezed its materials budget from $386,000 in 2008 to $152,130 in 2009 to $129,198 in 2010. That represents a 71 percent decline from $444,800 in 2006.

Budget pressures
GPL officials explain that the library has no control over many cost increases, such as health insurance and state retirement contributions. It also faces increases in utility expenses.

“It saddens us tremendously to have to cut back on the hours that the Library is open and also have to cut back on programs and services that the community has come to expect,” said Director Eugenie Contrata in a statement. “But we’re all living in the toughest economy since the Great Depression of the 1930s and the impact of the poor economy is now being felt by the Library. It is our hope that these cuts are temporary, and that as the economy rebounds, we will be able to once again offer the hours and services to the community that the Greenburgh Public Library is known for.”