Library cuts less than asked for

Council asked for $1M cut, got $700,000 reduction

The Ottawa Citizen – December 8, 2009

By Maria Cook

Asked to trim $1 million from its 2010 budget, the board of the Ottawa Public Library instead approved cuts worth $700,000 and voted to extend library hours.

"What we're saying is we can go part-way," said Michel Bellemare, a board member and councillor for Beacon Hill-Cyrville.

At a special meeting Monday to discuss cuts requested by the city's finance committee, the board approved reductions of $700,000, keeping $220,000 for new books and materials and $80,000 for expanded hours.

"The library services are doing more than their fair share in trying to achieve cost reductions and maintain a tax increase that is as low as possible," Bellemare said. "At the same time, we're safeguarding some essential library services."

City Librarian Barbara Clubb says the $80,000 will allow for year-round Sunday hours for the main branch and three district branches and an additional eight weeks of Sunday hours in other branches. "Right now, there are no Sundayhours in the summer at all at any library in the city," Clubb said.

Last month, the library approved a budget request of $35.9 million, which included an increase of $2.7 million, or 7.4 per cent, over 2009.

The city's finance committee also asked the Ottawa Police Service to look for $1 million in savings and Hydro Ottawa for $2 million.

On Wednesday, city council will hear a presentation from the library. Public delegations will get their say in January before council votes on the budget.

"Libraries are important to everybody in the city," said Jan Harder, board chair and councillor for Barrhaven.

"In every survey, 80 per cent rate libraries as a core service, the same ranking as fire and police."

The board agreed with Bellemare's motion to hire a co-ordinator for French services for children and teens in Ottawa's west end, instead of a new public information officer.

The library postponed plans to use social networking tools to tap into audiences, expand programs for teens and hire someone to manage capital projects. It retained funding for a co-ordinator for accessibility services and for online.

"We have a system that could crash at any time," Harder said.

The library will receive $180,000 as a one-time grant from the federal department of Citizenship and Immigration for materials for newcomers and $500,000 from city development charges to buy materials for libraries in growing areas.

The budget does not include money for planning a new central library, although the city has approved purchase of a downtown site. "It means a delay," Clubb said.