Library loses aid request to school system

A battle over books broke out at Saugus Town Meeting on Monday, pitting the library against the struggling school system.

In the end, the schools won out, receiving an unexpected $75,000, while the library budget was cut by the same amount.

The trim was a setback to the library's bid to regain certification from the state Board of Library Commissioners. Town Meeting members voted 27-15 in favor of the Finance Committee's recommendation that the library receive $325,000 for its operating budget instead of the $400,000 requested by Saugus Town Manager Andrew R. Bisignani, an amount approved by both the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Library Trustees. The $75,000 will be put into the Finance Committee's reserve account, which often is used to cover shortfalls in budget line items throughout the year.

Meanwhile, by a 36-7 vote, Town Meeting members voted to give $75,000 more to the schools, which will be used to hire two reading teachers at the elementary level. The increase sparked lively debate over spending priorities.

Supporters of the library urged Town Meeting members not to cut its budget. "We are not going to be able to [maintain] staff," said Mary Ellen Picardi, a library trustee. "Please reconsider before you act."

Ewa Jankowska, the library director, said the trustees will hold an emergency meeting Monday to discuss the impact of a $325,000 budget. She declined further comment.

The state Board of Library Commissioners last year stripped the library of its certification after voters rejected a Proposition 2 1/2 override that would have created new tax revenues to fund the library. After the override failed, the library closed temporarily last June, which resulted in the immediate loss of state certification. The library reopened with reduced hours later that month after Town Meeting members cobbled together $277,000, largely by trimming other department budgets.

Over the last year, operating hours gradually climbed to 50.4 per week, enough to qualify for partial state funding. To get the full amount of state aid, the library must be open a minimum of 63 hours per week. The formula is based on the average appropriation for the past three fiscal years, increased by 2 1/2 percent, according to the Board of Library Commissioners.

For the 2007 fiscal year, Saugus received $23,933.62 in state aid. The town won't be eligible again for state funding until 2010 due to funding levels budgeted for the library, said Celeste Bruno, spokeswoman for the state board.

"It's hard when a community finds itself in crisis, and their budget is struggling," Bruno wrote in an e-mail.

Saugus, whose finances have been under scrutiny by the state revenue department, will have a $59 million operating budget for fiscal 2009.

The amount includes $23.5 million for the Saugus public schools, enough to maintain services for the current fiscal year, officials said.

The $75,000 increase in the school budget will be funded from the trash collection account. The town is finalizing a new five-year contract with its trash hauler that contains more favorable rates than the current contract.

Seven reading teacher positions were eliminated last year as part of 58 jobs cut in the School Department.

The extra money will restore two positions to help students who have trouble reading at the elementary school level, according to School Committee chairman Joseph Malone.

"Its really a vote for the underdog," he said.

Town Meeting member Maureen Dever, who made the motion for the increase, said "This will get our schools back, slowly but surely."

BU5 Library backers felt the $75,000 should go to their budget.

"The $75,000 would make it possible for people to keep working in the library, and back up the reading programs in the schools," said resident Martha Clouse. "It will bring us a step closer to recertification."

Town Meeting member Barbara Malone, a former School Committee chairwoman, countered that the schools must produce strong readers.

"What is the point of having a library serving children who can't read?" she said. "I'd just like you to think about that."

Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com.