Miami-Dade Libraries Get Reprieve on 13 Branch Closures

Thirteen libraries in the Greater Miami county area—more than one quarter of the entire Miami-Dade Public Library System—were rescued from closure this week under a revised budget that received an important approval Tuesday night.

The original $6.1 billion spending plan introduced a week ago by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez targeted 13 library closures and significant staff cuts as part of a larger strategy to plug a $400 million shortfall. Opposition to the plan mounted quickly, as a list of the targeted branches began to circulate and 191 full-time positions were earmarked for potential elimination.

On Tuesday, Gimenez tweaked his tax plan, part of a lengthy budget approval process, agreeing not to shutter a single library, asking instead that additional savings be found in the fire department budget. Miami-Dade commissioners voted that evening to approve the mayor's proposal.

"All 49 libraries are open at this point," Library Director Raymond Santiago told LJ after the vote. "It looks like they are all going to stay open."

Gimenez, for his part, told the Miami Herald, "We will be able to keep all the libraries open, now we will have to squeeze out another $3 million from the fire department."

At Tuesday's hearing, several commissioners spoke out against the proposed library closures. Along with standard services, Miami-Dade libraries are recognized as Greater Miami's largest provider of free Internet, a vital service for the region's huge lower class and immigrant population.

"Unfortunately, we don't all live on South Beach," Santiago said.

Staffing, hours cuts still to come
The news regarding the county library system, which saw approximately seven million visitors last year, was not all positive, however.

Although a final county budget won't be approved until late September, Santiago said the library network will be subject to future staff cuts, and hours will be almost certainly be cut back at most or all branches.

"The important piece is that all facilities are open," Santiago said. "You close even one library, it's really hard to bring it back. Even cutting one library is a painful thing to do. I don't think anyone in the county wanted to do this."

Santiago said it was too early to tell how many employees will be laid off and what the revised hours will be for each of the 49 branches. The smallest branches may be hit hardest, he added.

Before the vote, Gimenez said a plan had been struck to keep four additional branches open, limiting closures to nine branches. But, as commissioners voiced their opposition to any library closures, the mayor backed their desire to spare every branch.

In Miami-Dade County, the mayor sets the tax rate and the overall spending target. Later, commissioners must agree on precise budgets for each department. Gimenez's budget-balancing plan calls for the termination of some 1300 jobs from the county payroll, some of which will have to come from libraries.