This afternoon, members of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library’s Board of Trustees brought members of the media up to speed on the library’s annual budget proposal, submitted in November. According to Board President Anthony Townsend, Albemarle County staff responded to the JMRL’s annual budget proposal by asking the library to consider the impact of five-percent and 10-percent budget reductions for Fiscal Year 2010.
Townsend’s response? "A five-percent reduction would force the closure of Scottsville Library," he read from a prepared statement. A 10-percent reduction would close both Scottsville and Crozet libraries, he added.
According to Townsend’s statement, the County suggested that a reduction of service hours would be "more palatable than closing branches." However, as Townsend explained, palatable doesn’t necessarily mean easier: While the Central, Gordon Avenue and Northside locations receive joint funding from both the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Scottsville and Crozet libraries do not receive funding from the city budget.
The projected cost allocation for FY2010 totaled $235,738 for Crozet and $178,454 for Scottsville; a 10-percent budget reduction translates to $317,314, according to Townsend’s statement. Read next week’s C-VILLE for more.
