The Ferguson Library Board of Trustees has withdrawn its request to the Stamford Board of Representatives for a special library fund that would have closed the library’s $1.2 million budget deficit. Last week, the city’s director of legal affairs rebuffed the proposed resolution, saying neither the city nor the Board of Representatives had the authority to establish such a fund.
In a letter Friday to the Board of Representatives, Ferguson Library Board of Trustees Chair George Harvey wrote, “The Trustees are making this request because we believe that the Library should be a positive force for learning and community in the city and not a source of discord and strife. We are aware that our request to the Board of Representatives has generated a lot of controversy and we do not want to be in the position of polarizing the city.”
The mayor cut the library’s budget by $850,000 this year, resulting in the $1.2 million budget gap. Despite stepped-up fundraising and cost cutting moves, including a ten percent management pay cut, the library will be forced to lay off nine full time employees and drastically reduce hours at the main library and branches as of September 13.
Library administrators plan to meet with union representatives to discuss possible concessions that could save additional funds, but it is unlikely that enough savings will be found to avoid the planned cutbacks.
