Boston Public Library President Amy Ryan endorsed a plan Wednesday that would eliminate four of the city’s 26 libraries in an attempt to close the BPL’s budget gap, potentially saving over three million dollars.
The plan was one of three options presented at a meeting of the BPL Trustees Wednesday morning. Of the other two options, one would involve closing seven branches and leaving the other 19 unaffected, while the other would involve leaving all branches open but significantly reducing hours at 18 of them.
The BPL Trustees will be voting on which plan to implement in a meeting on Friday.
Under the plan that Ryan supported, the Faneuil, Lower Mills, Orient Hills and Washington Village branches would be closed entirely.
“The Boston Public Library needs to save money, stabilize, and begin to move forward,” Ryan said in a statement. “Keeping 22 branches open is the most prudent option. It preserves as many branches as possible, permits us to fill critical vacancies and allows us to explore partnerships.”
The BPL is also planning on making significant reductions at the Central Library in Copley Square and in system-wide operations and support, said BPL spokeswoman Gina Perille.
Regardless of which plan is chosen, these changes, combined with the possible elimination or reduction of branches, will lead to layoffs of BPL employees.
“The reductions at the Central Library in Copley Square, in system-wide operations and support and in the neighborhood branches all involve the elimination of positions, which could ultimately lead to layoffs,” Perille said. “The number of eliminated positions could be as high as 94 for the entire Boston Public Library system, regardless of which option for the branches is voted in on April 9.”
It is estimated that all the cuts combined could amount to up to $3.7 million in savings.
Many in the Boston University community said they agreed with the plan to close four branches.
“If they close four, there will still be 22 open,” said College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Leon Spencer, who has a work-study job at the circulation desk in Mugar Memorial Library.
“The people in those communities can always travel a little farther, whereas restricting the hours of 18 branches inconveniences more people.”
CAS senior Maia Kallen agreed that eliminating four branches would be more beneficial to the Boston community as a whole than reducing hours at 18.
“Four branches doesn’t really seem like a big deal &- it’s just more of a commute for some people,” she said. “That way when you go to a library, you won’t have to worry about what its hours are.”
But a library coordinator in Mugar who asked to remain anonymous said that no matter what plan of action is taken, it will negatively impact the community.
“Either way it will have a detrimental effect,” she said. “A lot of people use the public library for more than just books &- tax forms, computer access and also getting books from other libraries.”
“Especially in areas where the school systems aren’t great, the public library fills a huge gap, and not having it is a detriment,” she added.
However, most also said the cuts wouldn’t greatly affect students, as very few use the BPL system.
“I’ve never even been to the Boston Public Library and I don’t know anyone who has,” said CAS senior Nina Sugawara. “I honestly don’t think it will affect college students very much.”
“Most students use BU libraries or the consortium with other Boston schools,” said the Mugar coordinator. “I don’t think the Boston Public Library is a widely used resource. Although it should be.”
Friday’s meeting is open to the public and will take place at 8:30 a.m. in the Rabb Lecture Hall in the BPL’s Central Library in Copley Square.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
