City and county officials on Wednesday discussed changes to library service hours tied to the new Nexus Center and agreed to monitor usage after the facility opens before making permanent staffing decisions.

Palm Coast city staff said the Nexus Center — a new campus that will offer expanded technology and program space — is scheduled for a ribbon-cutting in December and that opening will shift how library hours and programming are delivered across the system. County staff told the joint meeting the county’s tentative budget would be finalized in coming weeks and that proposals to preserve current service levels at some branches would require one-time funding.

City Councilman David Sullivan, who spoke about the timeline for evaluation, said the city and county would review patron data and usage in the months after the Nexus Center opens and return to elected officials with findings. "If we have ribbon cutting in December, maybe in March we come back to the city council with some numbers and show you what how the facilities are being utilized and how they changed," Sullivan said.

County finance staff provided a high-level estimate of the cost to hold service levels steady: officials said maintaining the current level of service at the Palm Coast branch for one year would cost about $180,000 to $190,000, and the county manager said the county’s tentative budget already included adjustments tied to other priorities. City leaders said the Nexus Center will expand seven-day coverage in the system, but that some programming currently offered at the northern Palm Coast branch could shift locations.

Officials stressed an intent to avoid eliminating programming and said volunteers and friends-of-the-library groups help with operations and shelving but that paid staff are required for many programs. County and city staff agreed to gather three months of solid post-opening data and return to their respective boards with usage statistics and recommendations for staffing and hours.

What’s next: City and county leaders will monitor usage after the Nexus Center opens and present updated patron and programming data in the spring; any one-time funding to preserve hours would need to be approved as part of the county budget process.