Cedar Rapids library board hears first suggestion on budget cuts

CEDAR RAPIDS - Library Director Dara Schmidt minced no words, telling the library board on Thursday where a library in need of significant budget cuts will look first to find them.

The cost-cutting is coming as a result of the Tuesday city election in which voters rejected a library levy that would have contributed $1.6 million a year to the library's $6.3 million budget. Its budget for the current year is intact, but only because of one-time extra funding from the City Council.

On Thursday, Schmidt said her recommendations for cuts in hours of operation and staff positions will be driven by data. She handed out a sample of library-use data from October and said closing the downtown library on Sunday and Ladd Library, the west-side branch, on Friday could be one option.

Both buildings are open four hours on Sunday, but employees must be paid overtime pay on that day. Both also are open eight hours on Friday.

Schmidt said library use falls off in the last hour when the libraries close at 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, so closing at 8 p.m. on those days might make sense, she said.

Joe Lock, library board president, promised a 'deep dive into many facets” of the library operation before any cuts take place.

Schmidt asked the library board if it would be willing to close the Ladd branch more hours during the week than the downtown library, saying that the Des Moines library, for one, keeps its downtown library open more hours than its branch libraries.

Lock said different hours at the downtown and Ladd branch library could be 'confusing” to patrons, and board member Susan McDermott said being open weekends can be important for busy residents who can't get to the library during the workweek.

Board member Hilery Livengood said it will be important to get input about cuts in library hours and services from the people who use the library, and Schmidt said there will be a community survey process.

Livengood also asked if Schmidt would be doing a review of staffing levels to see if there are times when the library might have too many people on duty at once. Schmidt said she would.

On Wednesday, Schmidt said some jobs at the library would be cut as the library cuts hours to balance its budget.

She and the board are beginning their work on the library's budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The City Council usually reviews the overall city budget in February and votes on it in March.