Amid pleas from residents to fund the public library adequately, City Council approved an agreement to share maintenance services at the facility while the Library Board is expected to consider the arrangement this week.

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During a combined meeting on Nov. 12 that stretched nearly three hours, residents again took to the microphone to urge the governing body to support funding the library, with some questioning the motives behind the resolution and continuing budget issues.

Ultimately, City Council unanimously (8-0 with Councilman At-Large Jeremy Mojica absent) approved a resolution (AR-242-24) authorizing a shared service agreement for maintenance services between the city and the library.

Mayor Raymond Giacobbe, Jr. explained that the resolution was drawn up by the city Law Department, which advised that City Council should adopt the agreement first, then the library board can accept or reject it. “This is not the final say, the library board will have an opportunity to vote on this,” he said.

The Library Board is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and plans to immediately go into executive session. The public portion of the meeting is expected to begin at the usual start time of 7:30 p.m.

At the mayor’s request, Chief Financial Officer Frank Ruggiero presented a brief report to City Council on the status of the library’s budget. The library has a total for available use of $143,000 and expenses can be consolidated into four main categories:

• Payroll expenses through the end of the year of $155,000 would present a $12,000 gap.
• Library materials and services of $28,000 can be absorbed directly through the administration’s expenses.
• The interlocal agreement would provide  two maintenance staff from the Department of Public Works (DPW).
• Maintenance and utilities could be funded through the DPW’s operating and utility accounts.

All employees will be paid through the end of the year, and all library programming and services can continue without cuts while DPW will handle all buildings and grounds and maintenance, Ruggiero said. Budget requests for 2025 will be distributed in the coming weeks, so future needs of the library can be discussed. There were no questions or comments from City Council on the report.

City Council President Vannie Parson said the governing body will take comments from the public “under advisement” but there will be no “back and forth.”

“We’re at a breaking point,” said Lauren Reidy of Bedford Street, a 20-year library employee, who read a statement on behalf of OPEIU 32, the library staff’s union. “We’re funded at the bare minimum,” she said, with numerous staff vacancies remaining unfilled and the library struggles to provide basic services. Proposals by the mayor have not been made with input from the union, she added.

The silence from City Council “is just too much,” said Travis Armstrong, who’s been at the library for 24 years and described morale at an “all-time low.” He questioned the timing of proposals and rescheduled meetings of the library board in recent weeks amid the proposals. “I hope we can get to a resolution and work together.”

Alan Levy of Oak Street called the resolution a “brazen violation” of the Faulkner Act, which governs the city. A resolution is a simple expression of opinion and can be done at the same meeting while an ordinance requires an introduction on first reading and a second reading and public hearing. The library is supposed to operate independently, he said, and questioned why the resolution was categorized as administration rather than finance.

“These people could figure out how to resolve budgetary issues in a day if they wanted to, giving enough discretionary budget to allow operating without coming back,” he said, claiming that it’s library board members who are not being sufficiently cooperative and loyal to the administration.

Andrew Garcia Phillips of Campbell Street reminded City Council that they’re a separate and equal branch of local government. “You control the purse strings. You don’t have to wait for the administration. You can write your own resolution to solve this immediately; there’s nothing stopping you from doing it tonight.”

Garcia Phillips said the resolution doesn’t match scope of what the mayor offered at the last library board about filling vacant positions and meeting payroll. “This seems like a bait and switch,” he said. “The people who created this problem are the people who say they now can solve this.”

City Councilwoman At-large Joanna Miles was the only council member to speak about the library resolution. “We can hear that this is an extremely frustrating situation. We are listening,” she said. We recognize [the library] is an extremely important place in our community, and I know the mayor agrees.” Having spoken with the administration, Miles was confident that the city, library director, and the library board are working together to resolve the situation. “It might not sound great, it might not be immediate results straight away. I don’t believe there will be less service in the library. I believe the city and director and board are working together to make sure we do have a library and services that it offers.”

A recording of the City Council meeting can be viewed on the city’s YouTube channel.

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