Minnesota: Proposed Budget Cuts Will Force St. Paul Central Library To Close on Mondays

TwinCities.com reports that proosed budget cuts will force the St. Paul Public Library’s Central Branch to close on Mondays.

St. Paul Library Director Kit Hadley said she’s resigned to the fact that the proposed budget includes shutting down the St. Paul Central Library to the public on Mondays.
She said the move was a necessary one, because four grant-funded programs near and dear to her and the public’s heart lost funding.
“This is going to allow us to keep four priority programs going, even though we lost grant funding for them,” Hadley said. “This is a clear priority choice, and we think it’s the right choice.”
Among the programming that otherwise would have hit the chopping block, the library system lost funding for a position, housed at the Rondo Library, that oversees all the library homework centers system-wide.
The library system also lost funding for the Read With Me program, a reading and tutoring program they’ve run for many years for small kids up through Grade 3.
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While the doors will be locked to the public, the Central Library will still operate some behind-the-scenes services on Mondays, such as circulation and delivery, phone reference and text reference.

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