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Trustees approve keeping four Boston libraries open beyond the summer

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 21, 2010 01:45 PM

File photo by Wendy Maeda / Globe Staff

A woman walks past the ramp to the Washington Village library in South Boston.

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

The board of trustees for Boston's public libraries today voted unanimously to postpone the closure of four libraries, which had been targeted for closure at the end of the summer due to the city's fiscal crisis.

"What that means is that the branches will not close at the end of the summer and will stay open a while longer," Amy Ryan, library president, said after the vote by the Board of Trustees.

Postponing the closures will allow the city time to come up with a concrete plan for the buildings after the library pulls out, officials said. Each of the four libraries will still close, but each location will do so on its own timeline.

Other significant cuts at the Boston Public Library will go forward, however, eliminating 68 positions at the central location in Copley Square, which will require 56 layoffs, according to officials. The reductions are not as deep as originally proposed, but the cuts will still have a dramatic impact on the library system.

Details of the plans were announced this afternoon at a special meeting of the library’s board of trustees in Copley Square. The four branches slated for closure are: Faneuil in Brighton’s Oak Square, Lower Mills in Dorchester, Orient Heights in East Boston, and Washington Village in South Boston’s Old Colony housing development.

The board voted in April to approve branch closures and layoffs after three months of hearings and community meetings. That process, which included 14 public meetings and an online chat, has been criticized as too hurried to seriously consider the impact of permanently shutting the libraries.

“We are listening to the community and their concerns regarding the process, and believe the board of trustees will be taking those into consideration,’’ said Dot Joyce, spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, in today's Globe.

This afternoon’s meeting at the main library in Copley Square comes less than 24 hours before the Menino administration is expected to submit a revised budget to the City Council, where opposition to the library closures has been mounting.

“The decision was hasty and it was rushed,’’ said Council President Michael P. Ross. “It is clear to me it needs to be reconsidered.’’

The council, emboldened by its recent stand that ultimately resolved the firefighters contract dispute, is pressuring the Menino administration to curb cuts at the library and a proposal to lay off more than 80 custodians in the school department. The council does not have the explicit power to add money to keep libraries open or reduce layoffs, but the mayor needs a majority of seven votes to approve his budget.

“I think the administration understands clearly,’’ Ross said, “from discussions directly with city councilors to the mayor . . . that they need to fix the library situation and they need to fix the custodian situation.’’

The union that represents library assistants, custodians, and clerical and maintenance workers is calling for a task force made up of employees and community groups to study the issue over the next 12 to 18 months and “create a sustainable plan,’’ said Elissa Cadillic, president of AFSCME 1526, which is slated to lose up to 70 of its 270 members to layoffs.

In April, trustees approved a budget that would shutter branch libraries in four corners of the city. The plan, which plugged a $3.3 million funding gap, would leave the Boston Public Library with a network of 23 locations. But it would eliminate 21 jobs in the branches and slash 68 of the 305 jobs at the main library in Copley Square.

Most of the library’s money comes from the city, but other funding sources play a vital role. Two years ago, the state gave the library $8.9 million, which accounted for almost 20 percent of its budget. But state funding has been slashed to $2.4 million next year.
The city has also cut money, but not as precipitously as the state. This year the mayor level-funded the library when other city departments faced reductions.

Despite the state’s cuts, however, legislators lashed out at the plan to close libraries and lay off staff. Several members of the Boston delegation pushed punitive budget amendments through both the houses of the Legislature that would strip the library of its remaining $2.4 million in state funding if it shutters a branch or lays off staff.

The amendments, which did not earmark additional money for the library, remain in conference committee, where legislative leaders are working on the final details before sending the budget to Governor Patrick.