With cuts ahead, Menino talks of ‘transformation’
The Boston Public Library faces a $3.6 million budget shortfall, and administrators have proposed closing eight to 10 branches and laying off nearly a quarter of its staff. Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has proposed to close branch libraries and to cut costs and reshape how Boston serves its citizens in the neighborhoods.
In a speech to the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, Menino urged people think about transforming the nation’s oldest municipally funded library for the digital age, saying the “days of the old encyclopedia are long gone.” Menino did not specify how many libraries would close, speaking instead in broad terms about a “great transformation” he wants to bring to the city by concentrating resources in the most effective settings.
With his comments about the library, the mayor seemed to reject an alternative proposal that would leave all branches intact but drastically slash hours, forcing some locations to open only a few days a week. Library administrators are analyzing a range of statistics about each branch. Next week, library president Amy E. Ryan is scheduled to outline criteria to her board of trustees that could be used to target branches for closure and shift more resources online.
“It’s not about closing branches,” Ryan said yesterday. “It’s really about a transformation of the Boston Public Library and how we deliver services most successfully.”
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