Library Policy Changes Go Into Effect June 3

Garden City Public Library policy changes approved at a May 6 special meeting of the library board of trustees go into effect June 3.

In an attempt to close a $234,638 budget gap, trustees Jack Pascal, Barbara Brudie-Martis, Gloria Weinrich and board chair Randy Colahan (trustee John Schultz was not present) approved charging 25 cents per day for all overdue items (except DVDs), which Pascal said could generate $37,000 in revenue.

The board also voted to charge 10 cents per page for those making printouts in the library's Computer Lab and the Young Adult Computer Center, a suggestion made by this year's Citizens Budget Review Advisory Committee (CBRAC). This could generate $3,000 in revenue, Colahan said. Sufficient funds must be present in the user's account to cover the entire cost of a print job or it will not begin, library officials said. Free pages are no longer available.

The library is currently closed on Sundays now through mid-October. The library board voted to continue being closed on Sundays beginning in mid-October. (The library is closed this Sunday, May 26, and Monday, May 27, in observance of Memorial Day.) Pascal said the continued Sunday closure could save approximately $29,000.

Further, three part-time typist clerk positions, one full-time typist-clerk position (35 hours/week) and one full-time maintainer (40 hours/week) were abolished effective May 31.

The 2013-14 library budget totals $3,238,209, of which $3,117,335 is contributed by the village.

Colahan said the board was not "happy" about the policy changes. Trustee Brian Daughney, who serves as village board liaison to the library, told board members at the May 6 meeting that "we're all under tight budgets and we're trying to respond to what residents ask, which is keep taxes low."