Florida: Without Tax Increase Miami-Dade Libraries Would Keep All Branches Open, But Cut Service

UPDATE: We’ve updated this post with an embed (below) of the preliminary plan presented by the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Task force at a meeting today. You can watch a recording of the meeting by clicking here.
From the Miami Herald:

Without an increase in the county library tax next year, Miami-Dade would keep all of its 49 branches but move most from a five-day schedule to a four-day schedule, according to a presentation released Wednesday.
Other cost savings would come from sharp payroll reductions and using more part-time workers, limiting the number of books patrons can check out at one time, ending the books-sharing program with libraries outside Miami-Dade, and cutting back the hours on the Bookmobile. The library hopes to encourage self check-outs to save on labor costs, and use a “floating” collection system that would end the practice of each book having a specific library to call home.
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“There’s going to be pain,’’ said Raymond Santiago, the county’s library director. “This isn’t a budget anybody is going to be jumping up and down over. But it’s a reality.”
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Santiago’s contingency plan to cut $20 million from its $50 million budget would avoid the wave of closings county Mayor Carlos Gimenez initially floated last summer in the midst of a similar funding crisis. Burning through the library’s cash reserves let the library avoid that scenario in the current budget. But without a tax increase or drastic spending cuts, the same $20 million gap will be waiting for the library once the 2015 budget year begins Oct. 1.

Read the Complete Article
Also New Today: Library cuts are forcing tough decisions on children’s books in Miami-Dade (via MH)
“Spending on Children’s Books is Down 90% From Previous Years”
Article runs 1500 words.
See Also: Mayor Wants Miami-Dade Libraries to Become More Efficient to Receive More Funding (February 21, 2014)
See Also: Miami-Dade Mayor Unveils Task Force to Study Future of Public Libraries, Administration Will Also Talk With Library Groups (October 16, 2013)

Preliminary Library Plan from Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force For the Miami-Dade Public Library System

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