Salem to cut hours at the main and West Salem libraries starting Jan. 2
Salem is drastically cutting its public library hours starting Jan. 2.
The main Salem Public Library branch downtown will see a 27% reduction in hours and will no longer be open on Sundays. The West Salem branch will see even bigger cuts — a 67% reduction in hours — and will only be open on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
The reductions could be the first of many cuts to city services due to the city's budget deficit and failure of the payroll tax.
City officials said in a report that the decision was made as a result of staffing limitations. Leaders have not hired people for most vacancies in anticipation of the revenue shortfall in the general fund.
The Salem City Council will hear a report on the cuts Monday during the last council meeting of 2023.
The council will not be voting on the changes. They will have an information session on the cuts planned for January 2024.
"The decision to reduce operating hours was not taken lightly," staff said in the report. "Our primary goal remains to continue serving our community with excellence while navigating the limitations imposed by our current and anticipated fiscal reality."
For the past several months, the library has been operating at regular hours and services with 20% less staff. With no funding on the horizon to fill vacancies, city management decided to cut hours to match current staffing levels.
"Over the past several months as library positions have turned over in the normal course of resignations or retirements, the city has chosen to leave most of these positions vacant, with limited exceptions," Deputy City Manager Scott Archer said. "The purpose in doing so has been twofold: to save money in the current budget, and in anticipation of the potential for reductions in either the current budget year or future budget years."
He said the current library vacancies are estimated to result in $1.07 million in personnel savings for the current fiscal year 2024 budget and could help avoid layoffs should budget cuts be made.
Archer noted that no decisions have been made about budget reductions to the library and that any reductions in funding or positions require action by the budget committee and the city council.
Salem main library will be open 38 hours a week, West Salem10
Effective Jan. 2, the adjusted operational hours at the main library will be Tuesday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Previously, the library was open until 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, open until 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturdays and was open on Sunday.
It was accessible to the public 52 hours a week and offered more than 50 programs and events a month. Those 52 hours will be reduced to 38 open hours.
The new operational hours for the West Salem Branch will be Tuesdays from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Once open five days a week, the branch will now be open two days. Its 30 open hours a week will soon be limited to 10.
'What a loss for the community'
Many in the community rely on the library for access to books, the internet, community spaces, early learning kids activities and shelter from the elements.
A total of 54,564 people are active library card holders, with 12,938 new cards issued in the past year.
Library officials said patrons checked out 647,330 physical items during that same time.
Former state librarian Jim Scheppke said that when he moved to Salem in 1986, Salem had one of the best public libraries in the state.
"Now, even before these cuts, we have arguably the worst," he said.
He pointed to several other cities in Oregon that were open seven days a week with hours almost double what Salem's will be in 2024, including the Deschutes Public Library, Eugene Public Library and the Corvallis-Benton County Library.
Dozens of cities with much smaller populations, like Enterprise, Monmouth and Banks, will have more open hours than Salem.
Scheppke said having the West Salem branch open only two days a week with no services to children is "next to worthless," and the new schedule at the main branch is terrible for working people and students. He predicted both changes would lead to fewer people visiting the library.
"What a loss for the community," he said. "I can only hope that these cuts will wake people up to the fact that we need to step up and support our library like we used to in the past."
City officials highlighted some beneficial impacts of cutting library hours including reduced workload for staff, less burnout, savings on utilities, on-call staff and supplies and less strain on building maintenance and cleaning.
Adverse impacts entailed reduced community access, fewer programs, elimination of curbside Sunday pickup, reduced availability of meeting rooms and study rooms and the cancellation of existing room reservations.
Salem City Council meeting agenda items
City councilors also will consider a proposed grant and property tax exemption and vote on three items on the agenda:
The Urban Renewal Agency Board will consider whether to approve a $600,000 grant for the rehabilitation of the historic England-Wade building for the Retro Electro development, a mixed-use project with 16 rental housing units. The grant funds come from the Riverfront-Downtown Urban Renewal Area Capital Improvement Grant Program and are made available for projects meeting certain criteria, like adding housing, improving alleyways and bringing in businesses. The developer is expected to invest $3.7 million in the project.
The council will consider a resolution to approve a 10-year property tax exemption for the development of a mixed-use project on 890 Commercial St. NE under the Multiple Unit Housing Tax Incentive Program. Developers, who will be adding seven residential units and two commercial units to a vacant patch of land north of downtown, would then get a tax exemption for the residential portion of the building.
Voting on the acquisition of an easement at Sunnyview Road NE and Hollywood Drive NE to allow for pedestrian crossing improvements, including a flashing beacon, ADA-compliant sidewalk ramps and street lighting.
Voting on whether to authorize the city manager to apply for $3.798 million in funding from the Oregon Department of Transportation All Roads Transportation Safety program. The program gives funding for systemic measures like intersection, bicycle, pedestrian and road departure improvements to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on public roads.
Voting on whether to approve the Revenue Task Force charter and transfer $302,800 to fund the facilitation of the task force. After the failure of the payroll tax, the city is looking to both amend the budget to address the looming deficit and create a task force to consider alternative forms of revenue, such as a public safety levy or fee increase.
How to participate in the meeting
The meeting is at 6 p.m. It will be held in person in the City Council Chambers at the Salem Civic Center, 555 Liberty St. SE, and also can be watched on Comcast Cable CCTV Channel 21 or on the Salem YouTube channel in English/American Sign Language and Spanish.
Those wishing to comment in person can sign up on the rosters at the chamber entrance before the start of the meeting.
Written public comments on agenda items can be emailed by 5 p.m. Monday to cityrecorder@cityofsalem.net. Or preregister between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday at cityofsalem.net/Pages/Public-Comment-at-Salem-City-Council-Meeting.aspx to speak during the meeting via Zoom.
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter at @wmwoodworth
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem library hours will narrow amid city budget cuts
