The Seattle Public Library (SPL) might be closing 22 of its 27 places for a minimum of someday per week till the start June, amid ongoing and more and more problematic staffing shortages.
Intermittent shutdowns start this weekend, in line with a launch, and can final by June 4. Throughout all places, it provides as much as round 1,500 hours throughout the eight weeks.
The announcement from the SPL comes after greater than two years of unpredictable schedules all through the library system. It’s been largely attributed to a scarcity of accessible staff.
The information triggered alarm inside the Seattle neighborhood, and amongst metropolis leaders. Council member Tammy Morales issued an announcement Thursday which learn partly:
“It is a wake-up name for our metropolis. With out pressing motion, issues will get a lot worse than this. The Metropolis of Seattle is going through a greater than $240 million funds deficit. There’s no approach to minimize that a lot from the funds with out decimating important providers like our libraries, work on homelessness, and public security applications for years to come back.”
Morales additionally highlighted a metropolis council assembly final month, throughout which library staff expressed their issues concerning the affect hiring freezes had been having on Seattle’s library system. She urged her colleagues on the council to think about rising taxes on higher-income residents to deal with funds shortfalls.
Seattle Public Library struggles with staffing and security issues
Regardless of struggling to rebuild operations affected by COVID-19, the library reported success in recruitment and hiring. It exceeded pre-pandemic open hours in 2023, fulfilling a promise to broaden providers outlined in a 2019 property tax levy. The $219 million levy additionally set objectives to eradicate late charges, which the library achieved. One other goal, to enhance services, stays an ongoing course of plagued in some instances by rising building prices.
However amid that progress, the Library confronted a setback. An escalating sequence of reported “disruptive behavioral incidents” prompted a rise in minimal staffing ranges at quite a few Seattle places to take care of safety.
$434K in harm reported: Seattle Public Libraries cites improve in loitering, vandalism
A press release on the library’s weblog explains it should redirect employees from one location to a different “if a department doesn’t have the precise quantity, or correct mix, of employees to open and function a constructing safely and with full library providers.”
A hiring freeze carried out earlier this yr for practically all Seattle metropolis departments added a layer of complication. Whereas the library system operates independently from the town concerning hiring insurance policies, the division additionally selected to press pause on bringing in any new staff, citing funds issues. Chief Librarian Tom Fay not too long ago authorized a number of exemptions permitting for non permanent hires. These positions are anticipated to be crammed within the coming weeks amid the rolling department shutdowns.
The SPL says some places is not going to see schedule adjustments to make sure ongoing library entry in all areas of the town. A full checklist of the affected branches might be discovered right here. Lots of the closures might be in the course of the weekends, however some embrace extra weekdays.
Extra on the hiring freeze: Public security spared as Seattle Mayor Harrell grapples with funds shortfall
Anybody hoping to go to a neighborhood department is inspired to examine the up to date schedule on the library’s foremost web site, as unplanned closures can nonetheless happen because of upkeep, security or different staffing points.
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