Report: “San Diego Libraries Face Budget Cuts, Long-Term Challenges of Social Distancing”

From the San Diego Union Tribune:

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact on San Diego’s 36-branch library system, which has been closed since March 13 and is facing budget cuts that will mean shorter hours when pandemic-related restrictions are lifted.

The system also is facing questions about how it will operate in a new world where social distancing is likely to be required for many months.

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Closing on Sundays and Mondays would save an estimated $6.8 million, slicing about 12 percent off the library system’s $56 million annual budget.

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Shortly after the branches closed last month, the foundation contributed $20,000 to allow [Misty] Jones [San Diego Public Library Director] to buy more e-books, which can be accessed from the library system’s website.

Jones then re-allocated more than $50,000 from traditional books to e-books in her materials budget.

Learn More, Read the Complete Article (790 words)

See Also: Illinois: “‘It May Not Be The Same Way That it Was:’ Local Libraries Plan Scenarios For Eventual Reopening”

Filed under: Libraries, News, Public Libraries