ESCONDIDO: Budget deficit prompting drastic cuts at city libraries

City plans to cut hours, eliminate many programs

By DAVID GARRICK - Staff Writer | Saturday, January 10, 2009 4:05 PM PST ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- Among the city services hit hardest by proposed budget cuts this winter would be at the Escondido Public Library, where plans call for drastically reduced hours, eliminating homework help for students and buying fewer multimedia materials and books.

Library officials said they also expect to eliminate the First Thursday concert series, Second Tuesday book discussions, workshops for small business owners and online subscriptions to popular sites such as ancestry.com.

Users would also face higher fees for some services, longer waits for computer terminals and longer lines at reference desks, said City Librarian Laura Mitchell, who said the cuts would be the most severe since she was hired by Escondido in 1989.

"Students would be impacted the most," said Mitchell, adding that the East Valley library branch would be closed all day on Mondays and Fridays. "And the shorter hours would affect all the people who've been coming in to apply for unemployment, write resumes and search for jobs."

The cuts would help the city reduce a projected $6 million budget deficit by saving about $215,000 from March 1 to the end of the fiscal year June 30. In a full year, the cuts would save the city about $600,000.

Last Wednesday, the City Council nearly adopted the library cuts and $3 million worth of reductions to other programs. Councilwoman Olga Diaz persuaded her colleagues to wait one week so she could search for other solutions.

Diaz said she was particularly troubled by the library cuts, explaining that library usage typically spikes during an economic recession as people look for cheap entertainment and need more help seeking jobs.

Mitchell said recent statistics support that theory, explaining that there has been a 35 percent increase in usage at the East Valley branch since the downturn began.

"Many people have limited resources right now, and we're one resource that they count on," Mitchell said.

Hours sharply reduced

City residents would probably feel the most impact from the reductions in hours, Mitchell said, which would be required by staffing cuts including layoffs for 26 part-time employees and possibly some full-timers.

Hours at the main library on Kalmia Street would be cut from 57 per week to 42 per week, with the branch going dark Fridays and closing time moved from 9 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Earlier closing times would probably force many homeowners associations and other groups to find alternate locations for evening meetings, Mitchell said.

Hours at the East Valley branch would be reduced more severely, from 36 per week to 15 per week. The branch would only be open three days per week: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Mitchell said Escondido's initial plan was to completely close the East Valley branch, explaining that library officials persuaded the city in December that reducing hours at both branches made more sense than closing one altogether.

"There are lots of senior citizens and families who live out there and can't afford transportation," said Mitchell, stressing the importance of the East Valley branch to the surrounding community.

Users disappointed

Library users expressed sadness and frustration about the cuts during interviews Friday at the two branches.

"I hope they rethink this decision," said Wes Thornton, who said he's been coming downtown to the Escondido library almost daily for five decades. "Libraries are especially important to young people, so the city needs to be careful where they cut."

Thornton suggested the city should cancel the library cuts by using some of the $19 million it had set aside as a subsidy for a downtown hotel, adding that the city had nixed the hotel deal last week.

Diaz and many City Hall critics have made similar suggestions, but the majority of the City Council has consistently rejected using the hotel money to balance this year's budget. Instead, they have suggested keeping the money in the bank until another economic development opportunity arises.

Betty Germain, another main library patron, said Friday that she knew very little about the political issues surrounding the hotel and the library.

"I'm just sad because I love coming to the library," said Germain, 73. "I just got acquainted with the library a month ago when I started using e-mail, so this is really bad timing for me."

Across town at the East Valley branch, Heather Kelley was busy searching online for jobs Friday afternoon. Kelley, 21, said it would be a major inconvenience if she had to limit her job searches to Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

A few feet away, 25-year-old Jessica Allen said she enjoys the peace and quiet of the library in the afternoons. Allen said she was surprised and disappointed to hear about the proposed cuts.

The effects would go beyond just library users.

Don Pham runs the coffee and snack kiosk outside the main library. Pham said Friday that the recession has already cost him half his revenue, and that the hours reduction would take about another 15 percent.

"It's definitely disappointing," he said.

Permanent cuts?

Elmer Cameron, president of the Friends of the Escondido Library support group, said Friday that the library would absorb a "disproportionate" share of the proposed reductions, but he declined to single out other programs that should be cut instead.

Cameron, who served on the City Council during a tough budget time from 1992 to 1996, said he empathizes with the council.

"I can understand their dilemma," said Cameron. "We had problems when I was on the council, but not like this."

Stan Levy, a member of the Escondido Library board of trustees, urged the City Council to reconsider the cuts last week.

He said libraries bolster Escondido's sense of community and serve as a melting pot for residents.

Levy also stressed that library trustees view the cuts as temporary, not permanent.

Mitchell said library officials hoped a reduction in weekly hours from 63 to 57 about two decades ago was temporary, but that the hours were never restored.

"The biggest worry is never getting these hours back," said Mitchell. "You just never know if the cuts will be permanent."

Contact staff writer David Garrick at (760) 740-5468 or dgarrick@nctimes.com.