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Fullerton library readies 5–10% budget cuts; overnight guard cost, blue-light camera and Sunday hours debated
Summary
Trustees heard library director Anita outline city-requested 5% and contingency 10% reduction scenarios, highlighted a $205,000 yearly overnight security contract at the Hunt branch (about 4% of the library budget) and discussed alternatives including blue-light cameras, reactivating a police substation and shifting hours to evenings or other days to preserve services and passport revenue.
Library Director Anita reported the city has asked departments to prepare 5% budget reductions and to begin contingency planning for a possible 10% cut, prompting trustees to weigh service trade-offs and operational changes. Anita told the board that overnight security at the Hunt branch costs roughly $205,000 a year — about 4% of the library’s overall budget — and staff are exploring replacing an overnight security guard with a blue-light camera and pursuing greater activation of a nearby police substation as cost and liability mitigations.
Why it matters: Trustees said they want to protect staff and public-facing services while meeting any city reductions. The board discussed the risk of starting new service hours and then having to roll them back if budget cuts materialize.
Anita said she and staff are pursuing multiple offsets rather than staff layoffs. Potential measures include asking the Library Foundation to underwrite the book budget (about $200,000), consolidating IT allocations under administration, reassigning or decommissioning a rarely used library vehicle, and trimming non-staff operational items.
Trustees also debated how to preserve recently approved Sunday hours (previously recommended for 1–5 p.m. by a council member). Some trustees emphasized Sunday hours’ value for families and people who work weekdays; others raised safety and staffing concerns and suggested expanding evening hours on days the libraries are already open instead of adding a separate day that would require extra security and custodial coverage.
Director Anita said staff are analyzing usage, revenue potential tied to passport services and security implications and expects to return with a more detailed recommendation at the next board meeting. "We're trying to be as much as we can for as many people as we can in the situation that we're in," Anita said, adding that staff prefer options that preserve personnel and services.
The discussion produced no formal change to the budget this evening; trustees directed staff to return with more information and options at a future meeting.
