Library Closes in Bedford, TX; ALA Sends Delegation

The Bedford Public Library, TX, effectively closed at the end of March, after a property tax rollback March 5 that passed by only ten votes. This caused the city (pop. 47,000) to cut $2.6 million—20 percent—out of the budget for the last six months of the fiscal year. While branches in various jurisdictions have closed, this is the first loss of community library service since 1988, according to the American Library Association (ALA).

After an initial series of negotiations, city officials agreed to operate the library on a bare-bones budget of $105,000, with 20 hours of service weekly rather than 55. But a recalculation of the budget showed an additional $90,000 left to eliminate, City Manager Chuck Barnett told LJ, "and the only two things they had [left] to cut were public safety or the library." The vote in city council was 4–3.

Library doors will remain open so materials can be returned, with the city maintaining security and climate control. Library director Marleen Watling began juggling calls from citizens and library officials and giving layoff notices to her staff (30 workers, 21.5 FTE). The library has 144,000 items and circulated about 32,000 in the most recent month.

Just as library officials went to Salinas, CA, in February to urge the community to maintain threatened library service (see News, LJ 3/15/05, p. 16), so a delegation went to Bedford on April 5. Many in the community indicated a commitment to raising $105,000 for basic service, said Carol Brey-Casiano, president of ALA. She and other advocates met with the city manager, the assistant city manager, and the mayor pro tem and discussed both short-term and long-term funding. "We felt the meeting was very positive," said Brey-Casiano.

Joining Brey-Casiano were Deborah Littrell of the Texas State Library and Herman Totten and Dale Fleeger representing the Texas Library Association. Meeting later with the Friends of the Library and some of the library's advisory board members, the delegation offered advice on how to create advocacy networks and mobilize grass-roots support. "When we left the meeting, they were definitely more optimistic," Brey-Casiano reported.

Barnett earlier noted that only 10,000 of 33,000 registered voters went to the polls in March. "The wake-up call's a little late," he noted. Meanwhile, the towns of Euless and Hurst, which had reciprocal borrowing agreements with Bedford, have modified those agreements. Bedford residents can no longer use the Euless library, while the library in Hurst has imposed a borrowing limit of three items, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

On March 31, three days after the board of the Niagara Falls Public Library, NY, announced the library would stop circulating books on April 15 if no new funding were found, the city council agreed to a process that could lead to new support. Five months earlier, the mayor and city council approved a budget that had cut library funding by $1 million, or 50 percent.

The library board wanted to ask residents in a referendum to approve dedicated funding for the library but was unwilling to seek such action unless the city stopped charging $300,000 in annual rent for the library building. The city council had tabled the rent issue twice, said Dolores Marino, chair of the library board.

However, the announcement that the library would stop circulating books and would proceed to an orderly shutdown galvanized the public. "I am most pleased by the huge number of citizens who turned out to support the library," said Director Betty Babanoury. "They cannot imagine living in a city without a library."

However, the city council's 3-2 vote to approve a rent-free building lease does not mean smooth sailing. A referendum to change the library from municipal to district status failed in 2001, as residents believe they're overtaxed. So the upcoming referendum, which is expected to be scheduled for June 21, might fail.

If a referendum fails, council members approved an alternate plan, in which they asked Mayor Vince Anello to alter the city budget to gain library funds from two other sources: local casino revenue and the New York Power Authority relicensing process. Babanoury said that the library was the only city agency that absorbed a budget cut. "[The mayor] did this because we were the only department that could go to voters." Niagara Falls is the central library of a three-county system, and a closing would impact several other libraries.

Community residents in Salinas have raised the $500,000 necessary to keep the city's three libraries open one day a week. However, the library's uncertain situation has taken its toll on the staff. Two library employees told the city council April 5 that they were under great stress and that workers were resigning. Given the lowered staff numbers, the city council voted 5-1 to cut the number of full-time employees and reduce library service from 32 hours a week to 26, according to the Monterey Herald.

Starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday April 2, supporters of libraries in Salinas joined in a 24-Hour Emergency Read-In to save library service. The read-in was held outside César Chávez library, named for the United Farm Workers (UFW) cofounder. Among those participating were UFW cofounder Dolores Huerta, actors Hector Elizondo and Mike Farrell, poets Gary Soto and Jose Montoya, and writers Maxine Hong Kingston and Alisa Valdes-Rodriquez.