By Staff
NILES – The need to reign in spending and increase revenues lead the Niles District Board to approve a series of proposals, including extended holiday closings, which will improve the library's financial position by more than $58,000 during the current fiscal year.
For some time, the library's expenses have increased at a faster rate than revenues. On Nov. 3, the Board held a special meeting to discuss the financial future of the library. The meeting culminated in the Board instructing the Director, Nancy Studebaker, to develop proposals which would reduce spending and increase revenue.
"Obviously when you make these sorts of adjustments, everyone is going to feel some of the pain, but I tried to develop a package which would balance the impact on staff and patron," Studebaker said.
She adds, "In addition to the other factors driving these changes, the library will soon be looking toward a long overdue upgrade in our automation system, which will be a major one-time expense. This will alleviate some of the impact that will have on the library's current budget."
The first change which will take effect will be extended closings for Thanksgiving and Christmas. For Thanksgiving, the library will close at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 21 and re-open at 9 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 26. For Christmas, the library will close at 5 p.m. on Dec. 22 and re-open at 9 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2008.
"The savings are three-fold. First, there will be part-time staff. Second, there will be savings in utilities. But the most significant savings will come from a wage freeze associated with the closings. Tying the closings with the wage freeze balances the impact on staff and patrons."
Another example of that balance comes with the reduction of staffing levels by about 20 hours per week which is tied to a reduction in hours of service for the local history room. Currently, the room is open all 60 hours-per-week which the library is open. Beginning Jan. 2, 2008 the room will be open 48 hours-per-week.
An increase in overdue fines to 15 cents per day per book beginning Dec. 1, will result in $8,500 in additional revenue for the current fiscal year. This is the first increase in overdue fines in more than a decade. Also increasing will be the charge for use of the community room.