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Library holds service hours while absorbing cuts; committee approves analyst reductions
Summary
The city librarian told the committee the library is keeping extended hours and completing branches despite property-tax revenue declines; the committee accepted analyst-recommended reductions and agreed the resulting funds should remain in the general fund unless otherwise prioritized.
City Librarian Luis Herrera told the Budget & Finance Committee that the San Francisco Public Library has continued to expand hours and complete branch construction even while absorbing a drop in property-tax revenue. Herrera said the library will have completed 14 of 24 branch upgrades and expects to see about 6.5 million visitors this fiscal year.
Herrera said the library—s property-tax revenue fell roughly 8 percent, and the department planned to eliminate about 6.5 vacant positions and reduce some materials funding while maintaining service levels. "We are an oasis here in San Francisco of increasing hours," Herrera said, noting many other cities were cutting hours.
Harvey Rose—s budget analyst recommended roughly $401,516 in reductions; the analyst characterized the recommendations as general-fund savings while the library asked to retain the amounts in its preservation fund to meet capital obligations. The committee accepted the analyst—s recommendations and, by committee directive, instructed that the amounts be treated as general-fund reductions available for board prioritization during add-back decisions.
Committee members asked Herrera to return next week with options for temporary neighborhood services when branches are closed for construction, including expanding the bookmobile schedule or other interim services in heavily affected neighborhoods. Herrera said the library already deploys bookmobile service and can explore expanded schedules if funding is prioritized.
Outcome: Committee accepted the analyst's recommended reductions and left a decision about restoration or reallocation of those funds to the broader add-back and budget-prioritization process.
