Why can the Library take money from salaries or equipment or other expenses to relieve the deficit in collections?
The collections budget and the operations budget must stay in some semblance of balance, or there are not enough staff to select, order, catalog, process, shelve, and help users to access new resources. The Library’s operations and personnel budgets have absorbed the majority of the FY 2008-09 cuts, as well as a portion of the 2009-2010 cuts. The Library operations budget has been cut by ~20% over the last five years. Additionally. the Library has been forced to make some difficult choices to balance the effect of these cuts including not replacing open librarian and staff positions and reducing the number of open hours of the library. Still, the collections budget must also be reduced, even with the other measures taken, to meet the Library’s overall budget reduction (14.5% within the last two years).
Related Questions
- If the Austin Public Library Friends Foundation raises money would the cost to the tax payer be less than the original $90 million in bonds?
- What happens if expenses exceed the estimated amount of expense money collected and the Company account is in deficit?
- What kind of collections and equipment are available in the library?
