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St. Helens library to close Thursdays after city orders staff furloughs; board urges outreach on $24 ballot fee
Summary
The St. Helens Public Library will begin weekly Thursday closures in April after the city ordered full-time staff to take eight-hour weekly furloughs as part of addressing a budget shortfall. Library Director Suzanne told the board the $24 ballot fee on May 19 would cover only part of the gap and the board discussed advocacy and attending budget meetings.
The St. Helens Public Library will close one day each week — Thursdays — beginning in April because citywide staff furloughs have reduced library staffing, Library Director Suzanne said at the board’s March meeting.
Suzanne said the city administration “has decided to furlough all full time employees, 8 hours a week,” and that the library is already short-staffed; the board was told the furloughs reduce full-time schedules by 20 percent. She said the library will close Thursday afternoons this week for an unexpected staff shortage and then adopt regular Thursday closures to preserve core Monday and Friday services, makerspace hours and children’s programming.
The furloughs are tied to a broader municipal budget deficit and a ballot measure on the May 19 ballot. Jay (board member) summarized the funding calculus: “The $24 fee covers about half of the reserve that’s needed,” and the board discussed turnout math for a May election versus November. Suzanne said the city’s budget committee will present two budget options in May — one assuming the $24 fee passes and one assuming it does not — and that further guidance on service reductions will follow after the election.
Board members asked whether furlough days would be restored if the fee passes; Suzanne said the furloughs are indefinite and that the $24 would not immediately restore all hours. She also relayed a city staff conversation that shuttering city services, including the library and the recreation department, had been discussed as a last-resort option if the budget becomes dire; she quoted city leadership saying such closures “would be the absolute last thing” they would want to do.
The board discussed short-term advocacy steps: preparing factual materials about library services, attending budget committee meetings in May, and sharing the city’s planned direct-mail piece that will describe local services. Suzanne said staff can provide facts and figures the board can use for outreach, and members agreed to collect and share contacts and information for local voter outreach efforts.
The board did not take a formal vote beyond routine approval of minutes and adjournment; no action to change library hours beyond the announced Thursday closures was adopted at the meeting. The budget committee is scheduled to meet three times in May; the board will monitor those meetings and consider public testimony if needed.
