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22 Branches
to Remain Open With Current Hours -- But Orient Heights is History!
Boston Public Library Board of Trustees Approves Budget
Boston – April 9, 2010 – The Boston Public
Library Board of Trustees today approved a proposed $38.9 million
budget for the upcoming 2011 fiscal year. The plan keeps twenty-two
branches of the Boston Public Library open with their current hours.
It also closes four branch buildings: Faneuil (Brighton), Lower
Mills (Dorchester), Orient Heights (East Boston), and Washington
Village (South Boston).
“After much study, the board has come to what I
deeply believe to be a judicious and prudent decision for the Boston
Public Library in a difficult time,” said Jeffrey B. Rudman,
Chairman of the Trustees. “We are very grateful to President Ryan
and her team for the rigor, fairness, and wisdom they have brought
to this budgetary process.”
The Trustees further voted that the Boston
Public Library would establish as the first priority in its capital
projects expenditures the construction of a brand new branch library
in East Boston. Earlier this week, the Trustees announced that the
City of Boston would fund the library at the same level as the
current fiscal year, adding nearly $300,000 to help close what had
been a $3.6 million gap. The Boston Public Library Board of Trustees
also approved the submittal of the library’s budget recommendation
to Mayor Thomas M. Menino to be included in the total City of Boston
budget to the Boston City Council. Funding from the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts will be finalized in the coming months.
Boston Public Library President Amy E. Ryan
expressed her confidence that FY11 budget would begin to move the
library forward. “While we understand the natural attachment that
people have to the branch with which they are familiar, all of the
efficiencies in this plan will lead to a more robust, sustainable,
and modern library system,” said Ryan.
At the morning meeting, Ryan reiterated that
the BPL’s FY11 budget also includes significant reductions at the
Central Library in Copley Square and in administrative services and
support. Two-thirds of the library’s budget gap is being closed by
cutting back in these areas, including the reduction of up to 69
positions. Non-personnel reductions and efficiencies identified in
the FY11 budget range from reducing the library’s leased vehicle
fleet by one-third to cutting back on maintenance contracts. In the
branches, up to 25 positions are expected to be eliminated.
Even as the library sees a decrease in overall
revenues, the demand for books and programs is on the rise. In the
last three years, the number of books, CDs, DVDs borrowed from the
library is up 31%. “Today, half of Boston residents use their Boston
Public Library card,” Ryan noted. “With our resources aligned
properly, we can reach even more. The plan approved today is a
significant step forward in making the library the reliable and
responsive institution that the people of Boston deserve.”
In the months since her preliminary budget
presentation in January, President Ryan and the Boston Public
Library staff hosted multiple community and Trustee meetings, and
solicited feedback about the proposed budget. More than 1,000 email
messages and letters were sent to the Boston Public Library, and
more than 100 community members spoke at Trustee meetings at the
Central Library and community meetings in the neighborhoods.
For more information, visit
www.bpl.org/budget.
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www.bpl.org
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www.twitter.com/BPLBoston |
www.facebook.com/bostonpubliclibrary
budget page:
www.bpl.org/budget
online calendar:
www.bpl.org/news/calendar.htm
eNews from the BPL subscription page:
www.bpl.org/news/newsletter.htm
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About the BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY:
For more than 160 years, the Boston Public Library has pioneered
public library service in America. Established in 1848, the Boston
Public Library was the first publicly supported municipal library in
America, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a
branch library, and the first to have a children’s room. Today, the
Boston Public Library boasts a Central Library, 26 neighborhood
branches, free wireless internet access, two unique restaurants, and
a robust web site. Each year, the Boston Public Library hosts nearly
12,000 programs, answers more than one million reference questions,
and serves millions of people. All of its programs and exhibits are
free and open to the public. At the Boston Public Library, books are
just the beginning.
www.bpl.org
|
www.twitter.com/BPLBoston
|
www.facebook.com/bostonpubliclibrary
online calendar:
www.bpl.org/news/calendar.htm
eNews from the BPL subscription page:
www.bpl.org/news/newsletter.htm
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_____________________________________
Gina Perille
| Communications Manager
Boston Public Library
700 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116
617.859.2273 office
617.388.5690
mobile
www.bpl.org |
gperille@bpl.org
www.twitter.com/BPLBoston
www.facebook.com/bostonpubliclibrary
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