Last month Mayor Nickels announced his proposed 2010 capital budget plan for the City of Seattle. This budget would drop Seattle Public Libraries funding by 37 percent from the 2009 budget (from $1,646,000 to $1,031,000).

And like the week-long furlough the Libraries took in August to save money, the new budget will cut SPL resources, and hours, for branches all across the city. Jennifer Johnson-Fong, a Queen Anne resident and vice president of Friends of The Seattle Public Library, petitioned outside the Queen Anne branch today in an attempt to sway City Council from reducing the SPL budget even further. She wrote,

Queen Anne and 20 other branches are scheduled to be closed Friday and Sunday (the Sunday closure is new to many of the 20 branches) plus operate at reduced hours – all year.  The Queen Anne Library would be open just 35 hours a week if the proposed budget remains unchanged by Seattle City Council. The new Queen Anne hours of operation could be this:Monday, Tuesday:
1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Thursday:
11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

CLOSED FRIDAY

Saturday:
11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

CLOSED SUNDAY

The proposed budget will impact all of our communities and neighbors who are relying on our libraries for computer access, job search resources, educational support, gathering spaces, programs and librarian assistance. In 2008, more than 13 million customers visited the Library and so far this year, visits are up another 8 percent. Circulation of books and other items was up 20 percent in 2008; this year it is up an additional 11 percent.  According to The Seattle Public Library, “Early estimates show the reduced hours may result in the loss of approximately 27 positions, or the equivalent of 18.8 regular full-time employees. In recent months, the Library has temporarily filled open regular positions to try to mitigate the impact and avoid layoffs.  Expected earnings of each Library employee will be cut approximately 1.9 percent due to the one-week closure.”  http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_history_2010reductions

I’ll be handing out a flier that details how the community can help to keep neighborhood branch hours.  Sending emails to council members is the easiest and has a big impact.  The flier also lists the 21 branches slated for drastic reductions and the list of 5 other branches whose hours will increase in an attempt to compensate the 21 other neighborhoods affected.

The Friends also has a petition on our Facebook Cause Page.