Hawaii Board Rejects Monthly Two-Day Closures, Furloughs
The Hawaii Board of Education failed to approve a proposal September 3 to address a $5.7-million cut in funding by closing all public-library branches at least two days a month and furloughing employees twice a month. The plan also called for the elimination of 72 vacant job positions (which would curtail use of temporary workers in those posts), a reduction in operating hours, and intermittent temporary branch closures due to staff shortages.
The plan was submitted by State Librarian Richard Burns after the board rejected a proposal in July to permanently shut five branches and directed him to present a new plan to that did not include library closures.
The board voted 6–5 in favor of the new measure, but passage required seven votes. The Honolulu Advertiser reported September 4 that much of the opposition came from board members representing islands other than Oahu. Libraries on these “Neighbor Islands” have fewer permanent employees than urban Honolulu branches–in some cases as few as one or two–and they would have been forced to close when staff members were sick or on vacation.
Meanwhile, the Friends of the Library of Hawaii is conducting a campaign calling for each of 1 million library users statewide to donate $3, with the goal of raising $3 million to prevent further cutbacks. Even before the September 2 launch, donations began pouring in: Friends Executive Director Byrde Cestare said in the September 3 Advertiser that the average contribution was $20 but that checks for $100, $200, and $250 arrived as well, raising more than $1,500 by the first day.
The library system also plans to conduct its own fundraising effort, which will ask patrons to use pre-addressed envelopes available at library branches to donate any amount they want and designate which branch would receive the funds.
Board spokesman Alex Da Silva told the Advertiser that the board did not consider such donations in their discussion of the budget proposal. “You can’t base a financial plan on fundraising,” he said.
—Gordon Flagg, American Libraries Online Posted on September 4, 2009.