Rochester Public Library Director Emily Clasper told the City Council’s Budget, Finance and Governance Committee that the library is seeing a “substantial” increase in its operating budget and that administrators are focused on stabilizing staff and expanding services that connect patrons with crisis supports and broadband access.

Clasper said the central leadership vacancy is the associate director for the Central Library but that the role will be filled by an internal promotion and subsequent backfill of a branch manager. “We have a pretty new team here,” she said, and she thanked staff who helped assemble the budget while noting the challenge of multiple funding streams.

Why this matters: Councilors framed the hearing around three persistent pressures—staff turnover in part‑time roles, the need for on‑site social‑service help for patrons in crisis, and the library’s role in closing the digital divide. Council members pressed library leaders for details about a planned new branch, mobile outreach and the MiFi program that lends mobile hotspots to residents.

Most important details

- Staffing and vacancies: Clasper identified the associate‑director post for Central as the main leadership vacancy; the library expects to promote the Lincoln branch manager into that role later in the summer and then recruit for the branch manager slot. Council members repeatedly urged the library to convert recurring part‑time roles into full‑time positions when possible to reduce turnover.

- Crisis support and social‑work partnerships: The council approved an allocation that allowed the library to restart a contract with the Father Tracy Advocacy Center for crisis support services. Clasper said Father Tracy is providing on‑site crisis help in the Central Library (Mondays and Fridays) and at Lincoln branch on Wednesdays. She described rapid, positive impacts: staff can “directly refer people who are in need to the services they actually need right in that space,” and the program has stepped in to prevent incidents from escalating.

- Opioid settlement dollars and future funding: Deputy Mayor Burns told councilors that city staff are developing recommendations for use of opioid settlement funds this summer; the administration flagged the library as one likely candidate to request funding for sustained crisis‑response services. Clasper said the Father Tracy contract was funded through the council’s recent allocation but that the program will need ongoing support.

- Mobile outreach and RPL Go bookmobile: Deputy Director BJ Scanlon said RPL Go is operating as a hybrid mobile service and partnerships program. The van currently runs Tuesdays and Thursdays, with staff from the Lyle branch, and the plan is to test regular summer parking locations and to expand the van’s use for school partnerships, nonprofit events and aging‑services outreach. “It’s really becoming an asset to the entire system,” Scanlon said.

- MiFi (mobile hotspot) program and broadband: The library’s MiFi program was funded primarily with county ARPA dollars. Clasper reported roughly 860 units in circulation, a supply goal of about 1,400 and a waiting list of about 500 people. The county ARPA funding supports the program through the end of calendar year 2026, and the library expects to reassess funding needs before that deadline. Council members and the deputy mayor encouraged pursuing federal broadband funds and other grants to sustain and expand the effort.

- New Fernwood branch and operating cost estimate: Clasper said the library has a proposed operating budget for a future Fernwood branch in the “neighborhood of about $500,000” annually, mainly to staff the location (estimated 7–10 additional positions). Design and capital costs are being advanced now, but operating costs would hit later budget years (Clasper said staffing and operating additions would likely be felt in FY27).

- Programs and collections: The library described ongoing investments in a county‑wide “Languages Other Than English” resource, audiobook and digital collections, the Toy Library at Lincoln (which can deliver toys countywide by request), and “Libraries of Things” pilot lending items other than books.

What council asked for or directed

- Several members urged the library to run a mid‑year analysis of the cost tradeoffs between repeated part‑time hiring and investing in fuller‑time positions; Clasper said the library is modeling scenarios and hopes to move some roles to full time where funds allow.

- Councilors asked for plans that would use opioid settlement funds to sustain crisis services. Deputy Mayor Burns said the city will publish RFPs this summer and that the administration hopes to bring proposals to the council in the fall.

- Members asked the library to provide more detail in writing about MiFi inventory, waitlist management and the program’s plan after ARPA funding ends; Clasper said she would provide that information.

Context and next steps

Councilors praised the library for increasing outreach and for pilot programs such as RPL Go and the BRAVE restroom sensor pilot (the sensor detects an occupied restroom with no movement and triggers a wellness check). Library leaders said they will return with written follow‑ups on staffing changes, MiFi program figures, the Fernwood branch operating plan and a draft timeline for projects such as the Maplewood Library renovation and the new branch. Councilors asked the administration to consider opioid settlement dollars for sustaining on‑site crisis services.

Ending note: The library framed this year’s budget as an effort to hold existing services steady while investing selectively in outreach and crisis supports. Councilors repeatedly linked those priorities—stable staffing, on‑site social services and broadband access—to the city’s broader public‑safety and equity goals.