Salinas Libraries to Close, Though Closure May Be Temporary

-- Library Journal, 12/20/2004

The city council in Salinas, CA agreed 6-1 on December 14 to close the three branches of the Salinas Public Libraries between January and June. A library subcommittee agreed that, given the need for $7 million in cuts and the failure of two tax measures in November, the libraries could be resurrected only after a new effort to provide stable funding for them. Lynne Steele, president of the Friends of the Salinas Public Library, told the Salinas Californian that the group may work toward a new tax election in the fall. Meanwhile, the city will aim to set up after-school homework centers at local schools. Jayne Wilsey, a 13-year library employee, told the Monterey Herald, "We feel like we've been sold out. The city administration, politicians, even our own union. It seems like the City Council was given no alternative but to close the libraries."