The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved laying off more than 30 library workers and adjusting county library branch hours in response to some Contra Costa cities saying they will cut some or all of their funding for extra library hours.
The county library system provides a baseline 35 open hours each week at each of the system’s 26 branches. While the baseline library hours are paid for from countywide property tax revenue, 10 Contra Costa cities last year paid extra to have their libraries open more hours per week.
Those cities, according to a county staff report, are expected to contribute a combined $700,000 less than the $3.38 million included in the county’s preliminary 2020-21 budget.
As a result, the supervisors approved cutting 39 positions — seven of them vacant — and cut extra open library hours, in most cases, from four to 10 hours a week per branch.
Hours at the Brentwood library, however, are to be cut from 56 open hours a week to 35, county Librarian Melinda Cervantes told supervisors, and Walnut Creek is expected to make a similar drastic funding reduction for
extra open hours, which Cervantes said will likely require further cuts.
Library open hours, even at libraries where cuts aren’t happening or are relatively minimal, are changing at most branches to provide for relatively uniform Tuesday-through-Saturday schedules. Cervantes said library staffing has already been “lean” before these cuts were approved.
The funding numbers could be further revisited, county officials said Tuesday, as most of Contra Costa County’s 19 cities have not yet finalized their 2020-2021 budgets. But every city is expected to make budget cuts from 2019-2020, as the COVID-19 coronavirus shelter-in-place order has decimated municipal sales tax, real estate transfer tax and gas tax revenues.
County Administrator David Twa told the supervisors that many of the displaced library employees will have the opportunity to shift to other county jobs, including some other vacant library positions, clerical
positions, eligibility worker spots and as “contact tracers” who work to identify the people who have come in contact with those who have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Board of Supervisors has postponed approval of its 2020-2021 budget, usually done each June, until August this year because of complications and added expenses tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.
😞😞😞
Libraries serve a lot of adults that don’t have ‘buying’ books in the budget, school-age children need many many books for their nightly required reading, the homeless also finds the library a calm, warm or cool place to read or search the Internet —I’m not surprised this is on the list of cuts.
When I became a stay at home parent, I had to find things to cut out of our budget…checking out books at our local libraries become very economical for my family. I have come to really enjoy the library. It made me think, “Why have I been buying books when they are FREE?” I will still find time to go during their reduced hours, but it’s unfortunate for those losing their jobs. 😞
If you pay taxes.
Library books are not FREE.
According to Transparent California, a quarter million a year for the County Librarian Melinda Cervantes.
That’s a lot of library hours, or books.
I believe Walnut Creek pays the county over half a million for the extra hours per year.
Every Democrat in California should have their salary cut in half. they are way over paid and they don’t do anything. it’s all groupthink. Especially those criminals Xavier becerra and Gavin newsom
Well, at least they didn’t cut the funding of the Sheriff’s Department.
Not yet at least.
but I heard the sup’s got an ear full about the increase the high sheriff wants…
Cellophane – I suggest you take a good look at the SO budget line by line. Pay attention to “settlements” and “equipment” as in military equipment. The SO budget can be cut almost in half as the only thing they really do is run 2 jails.
Recommendations were made to reduce the staff at the Child Support Division as well; did the Supervisors act on that recommendation?
These are just the beginning of the cuts the Board of Supervisors will need to make. What’s ‘essential’ is what’s essential to you, so there will be people complaining about any and all cuts. Frankly they should have laid off a whole lot of workers during Cower-in-Place, because I’m sure many of those people were unable to perform their full-time duties.
My teen has been a library assistant since 2016. I was surprised that they continued to pay her during the time when she was furloughed. As a taxpayer, I would rather they have saved the money so that they wouldn’t have as much need to reduce service hours now.
Cut Chris Fartando and Anna Roth’s salary immediately. That’s a million right there. They always take from the kids..why is that?
Over 3 million a year for library services!?!?!? People can buy their own dang books.
Same group that gave themselves large raises during the last recession while people were being laid off, right? Aka garbage people.
Mamba – they do that every time money is tight. 15 or so years ago they gave themselves a 60% raise and the workers got a 1.5% raise and last time it was a 33% raise and the workers got a 1.25%. The claim was 4% but 2.75% of that was giving back the cut the workers took 2 years prior.
They can also cut Twa’s salary and his $5000 month county kick in to his deferred comp