Maybe we can just stand on the street and admire it

Pioneer Press Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:51:16 -0700
Stillwater / Library cuts hours to save money

The Stillwater Public Library will be closed on Sundays beginning in January to save money, library officials said Wednesday. "We love to be open, and we love to be able to serve the public, but our budget does have to be balanced," director Lynne Bertalmio said. "Any closing is not going to be popular." The cut in hours - along with reductions in staff and materials acquisition - comes a little more than a year after completion of the library's $11.5 million renovation and expansion. The library reopened in September 2006 with an addition that more than tripled space to 40,000 square feet and includes a roof terrace and meeting rooms. Bertalmio said half-day shifts - the library is open from 1 to 5 p.m. on non-summer Sundays - are expensive to staff. She also said health insurance rates are going up 22 percent, other costs are rising and revenues are not increasing as quickly as expected. The Stillwater City Council, which is expected to finalize its 2008 budget Tuesday, plans to give the library $1.028 million in 2008, up from $1.009 million in 2007. ... "It's so heavily used," [Mayor] Harycki said. "We spent many millions of dollars building a first-rate facility, and it seems a shame to close it."

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