Stanislaus County Librarian Vanessa Czopek issued recommendations yesterday to deal with the SCFL’s projected budget shortfall for FY 2008/2008. The recommendations include closing the Modesto Library on Sunday, letting all P/T employees go, and closing all branches an additional two days per week. The book budget will also decrease by one-third. WHAT??? It’s all bad news, folks…read about it here in the Modesto Bee piece Stanislaus County Library cuts 94 part-time jobs.

I’m shocked that this is happening, but it does make sense: SCFL depends on a 1/8 cent sales tax passed by voters twice and which expires in 2013. These days, that sales tax (which provides 85% of the library’s revenues) is trending downward due to the weak economy in our county. At the same time, other library revenues from state and county sources are also shrinking. That all equals a huge shortfall.

I feel awful for the 94 p/t employees who will be out of a job on June 30. And for the rest of the employees who are under pressure to provide the same excellent service (and you know they will!) with fewer resources and support. Who will shelve books? Who will get your holds from the stacks? This is serious, folks…I’m sorry, but you can’t run a multi-million dollar operation on a shoestring without services being affected. And you can’t attract quality employees (hey: like librarians and such) to an organization that is constantly threatened by budget woes.

My plan is to write a letter to the editor to tell individuals and businesses to support libraries by 1)joining their local Friends group; b) volunteering at libraries; c) writing a check to Friends groups; d) asking concerned individuals to educate themselves about the value of the public library to our community; and e) speaking with friends and neighbors so they will tell their friends and neighbors about the cuts and closures–to spread awareness of the issue.

Stay tuned for more.