St. Helens library to cut staff hours after city budget shortfall; three assistants laid off

Suzanne, the St. Helens library director, told the board on April 13 that the library must lay off three part-time library assistants because of a city general-fund shortfall, and their last day will be June 21. "We had to lay off all three of our library assistants last week. Their last day will be June 21st," she said.

The director said the three positions amount to about $100,000 a year in payroll and represent roughly 60 desk hours a week now lost from public service. She described a range of program and materials reductions planned to balance the library budget, including a roughly 40% cut to materials purchasing (from about $32,000 to $23,500), a reduction in audio materials funding, scaled-back projects and programs, and likely pullbacks in outreach and some summer offerings.

Why it matters: the layoffs and cuts will reduce front-desk help and in-person services that many residents rely on for tasks such as printing, tax filing help and basic computer assistance. Director Suzanne said staff will prioritize youth services and the makerspace where feasible, but other services will be trimmed. "That's 60 hours per week at the desk," she said of the lost part-time staffing.

Service and contract limits: Suzanne told the board that some costs cannot be easily reduced because they are fixed city contracts or leases. The library pays roughly $8,200 a year to lease the makerspace and the Luet room, and hotspot devices cost about $100 each annually; those contracts limit how many hours reductions actually save. She said the library will keep popular items such as hotspots where possible but will stop buying some Library of Things items and reduce certain digital subscriptions.

City context and prospects: Mayor Massie briefed the board on citywide steps to balance the general fund, including a mix of furloughs and layoffs across departments and a proposed ballot fee. He said the ballot revenue would first replenish reserves (from a reported 4% toward a 20% target) and then support general-fund services including the library. "If the measure passes... the first piece is to take the reserves back to 20% from 4%," he said, but added the proposed $24 fee would not fully prevent additional cuts.

Board response and next steps: board members discussed outreach and informational materials; the director said she will return with a prioritized package of services the library can maintain and asked the board to help share factual information about the ballot and the libraryimpacts. The board also agreed to continue meeting on an adjusted schedule and to recommend two members for reappointment to city council (procedural actions taken earlier in the meeting).

The board set no final decisions on which programs will be eliminated; Suzanne said staff will work quickly over the coming weeks to draft specific reductions and bring recommendations back to the board.