For Los Angeles Residents, an Interactive Survey Precedes Budget Balancing
Options for the library: flat budget or reduced hours
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 03/09/2010
Visitors to the Los Angeles Public Library's (LAPL) web site are invited to take the Los Angeles Budget Challenge, a city-produced interactive survey that encourages visitors to rank potential changes in the budget of various agencies.The status quo is a $400 million deficit, meaning either cuts or tax increases are in order, so discussion is welcomed before the mayor's FY 10-11 budget is released on April 20.
The options for the library are not pretty: keep a flat budget (which entails other cuts or increases), or cut the budget by 10% or 20%. Under the lesser cut, Sunday service would be dropped at the eight regional libraries, and branch library hours would be cut from 52 hours a week to 44 hours a week. Under the larger cut, branch hours would go to 40 hours a week.
