Indianapolis Cuts Service Hours, Layoffs Coming
By Michael Kelley Oct 11, 2010The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library (IMCPL), an LJ 4-star library, reduced its public service hours 26 percent (from 1,324 to 980 hours) effective October 3, and it has plans to eliminate 35 to 40 jobs before the end of the year.
"The new schedule is directly responsive to the public's call for keeping libraries open while we work to achieve the necessary savings to sustain services," Laura Bramble, the library's CEO, said in a press release.
Bramble, who has worked for IMCPL for 28 years (four as CEO), told LJ this is the first time the system has had to deal with layoffs.
Public service librarians face layoff
A September 3 memo from Janet Gartin, director of human resources, broke down the job categories being targeted for elimination (including public service librarians), but the final numbers are still being worked out, Bramble said.
Michael Torres, the local chair of AFSCME Council 62, Local 3395, which has represented 320 out of 424 benefit-eligible staff since 2007, told LJ that morale at the library was low.
"The entire process lacks transparency," he said. "Staff have been in limbo since the announcement and still do not know who is going to be let go." Torres is a paraprofessional reference assistant and has worked at the library for 13 years.
The library also has about 300 hourly and substitute employees.
The library's proposed 2011 budget of $37.9 million to the City-County Council is down from $46.2 million in 2009.
The cuts in service will save about $1.5 million, according to the library's estimate, but the 22-branch system has been struggling to close a projected $4 million revenue shortfall in its operating budget. The library has also reduced its books and materials budget $1 million, and it will increase some fees in addition to the layoffs.
"If we didn't make these changes now, we would be looking at a $4 million deficit in the next few years, and I'm not sure how we would make it up," Rebecca Dixon, the library's chief financial officer told theindychannel.com.
The system may also have to dip into its reserve fund, which is about 10 percent of the operating budget, Dixon told the Indianapolis Business Journal.
The system receives approximately 80 percent of its funding from property tax revenue, Bramble told LJ, but a cap on property tax money (to help beleaguered homeowners) as well as a shrinking collection rate (from 97 to 92 percent) has reduced this revenue source, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal.
Service changes
All locations will be open Monday through Thursday, except Central Library, which will be closed on Thursday. Branch locations will be closed either Friday or Saturday, with a majority of branches being open on Saturday.
"The hours of service are staggered so that patrons will have a close alternative if their home branch is closed on a particular day," Bramble said. Seven branches will be closed all weekend.
Indianapolis expects to receive $154.5 million in County Option Income Tax (COIT) revenue next year, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal, and State Rep. John Day, a Democrat, has said he will propose diverting 2 percent of that money, or about $3 million, to IMCPL. However, the library would have to compete with police and fire budgets for COIT revenue, Bramble said.
"I think this is very serious," Day told the Indianapolis Business Journal. "The life and well-being of libraries are at stake."
