Save the Northside Library

From a Northside friend on the Library Board:

As you may have heard, the Northside Library is at a very real risk of being permanently closed.  The Library Board will be voting on this issue at the next Library Board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 5 p. m. in the basement auditorium of the Main Library. There is also an option to attend online through a Zoom link. 

The City of La Crosse is currently managing a budget shortfall and as a result... the library is being asked to reduce the budget by $174,705.

A misconception is that our City Council is the one to make the decision about the Library. In Wisconsin, libraries are protected by State Statute for how their budgets are spent so it is the Library Board that makes the decision on where to make cuts. As a result it is the Library Board who is choosing the route to potentially close the Northside Library, not City Council as there are other options on the table.

The two options put forth by library leadership are the following and neither option lays off any staff:

A. Reduce the overall budget by not filling vacant positions including the Deputy Director position which has been unfilled since May and has not been intended to be filled since the hiring of the new Director.  Add 1 PT staff.  Total savings $180,063

B. Reduce the overall budget by not filling vacant positions including the Deputy Director position, closing the Northside Library permanently, restoring Main Library hours to pre-Covid levels and hiring 3 PT staff.  Total savings $173,333

Both of these options would meet the amount required to submit to City Council for a reduction in budget, but the second option would result in a permanent closure of a Northside resource. 

I am working to share this information with as much of the public as possible since last week the Library Board had intended to put through a vote prioritizing Option B which could have resulted in a permanent closure without the public having a chance to voice input. Through a strong effort of many members of the community, we were able to have an opportunity for limited public input given the timeline between presentation of these options and the vote (one week) and refer the vote to the meeting on Nov. 11 to give a full opportunity for public input. 

If you can attend on Nov. 11 that will have a big impact and will allow the Library Board and leadership to hear directly from you. The meeting will deviate from the typical protocol and will be allowing members of the public to sign up at the meeting for public comment. You can also attend online through the meeting Zoom link and participate in public comment.

If you would like to write a letter that would be great too! Please just know that the process is a bit convoluted. You will need to write through the online comment form on the Library website and it will ask for a Library card number. If you do not have one, that is okay, you can just enter a different number.  As taxpayers, your voice matters, library card or not. The link is: https://www.lacrosselibrary.org/about/contact and then scroll down to the feedback form.  

I have been requesting these letters be sent to us as Board members so we should receive them. If you write to Council it is super helpful to have our representatives hear but if you can try to duplicate your letter in the comment form as I have discouragingly found out those letters are not being sent to us as Board members unless we explicitly request them. Unfortunately there are not contact emails for Board members included online but there are several members with public email addresses and we have a Council representative on our Board who can speak to the Council letters. 

If you send letters please copy me so I can ensure the letters are shared as well kljleigh@gmail.com

Here are the Board members on the Library website: https://www.lacrosselibrary.org/about/boards