• A reduction in public service hours from 6 to 5 days per week for four branches and a change in schedule for the entire branch system beginning Saturday, July 12, 2003 due to the elimination of approximately 22 part-time employees
• The relocation of the Second Start Adult Literacy Program from a rented facility downtown to a City-owned multi-use facility in West Oakland (1801 Adeline Street);
• A small augmentation to the Library¹s book budget over the next two years. Unfortunately, this increase will be offset by a reduction of approximately 20-30% in supplemental book money from the state;
• A reduction in exhibition dollars for the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO) - to be replaced by funding from a state grant;

The Main Library and the Temescal Tool Lending Library will retain their regular schedules. The Main Library is open 7 days per week.

The City is still negotiating with the various representative bargaining units regarding the one day per month closure of all City offices and several other issues. These issues remain unsettled as of the middle of July.

We are sorry about the inconvenience and problems that new branch schedules may be causing some library patrons. Unfortunately, the City¹s severe budget deficit, a continuing City-wide hiring freeze, the inability of Measure O (the Library Retention and Enhancement Act of 1994) to keep pace with inflation and salary levels, and the necessity of eliminating staff used to cover weekend hours has resulted in these changes. Library staff will be monitoring how the new schedules affect users and will reevaluate and make adjustments, if possible, in the next six months.

IMPORTANT NOTICE OF CITY LAYOFF/MANDATORY SHUTDOWN DAYS/LIBRARY CLOSURE DATES, 9/18/03

For budgetary reasons, most non-emergency City services, including the Oakland Public Library, will be closed on the following dates:

• Friday, October 31
• Monday, November 10
• Wednesday, November 26 (with Thanksgiving holidays of Nov. 25 & 26)
• Friday, December 26 (with Christmas holiday of Dec. 25th)

BUDGET BULLETIN, 5/5/05

For more information about the City's budget process, you can link here to the City Manager's "Budget Briefing"

BUDGET UPDATE, 5/2/03

Today the proposed policy budget for the city of Oakland became public. It is posted on the City’s Web site. The Letter of Transmittal includes a summary of the reductions, changes, restructuring and actual budget numbers and breakdowns. There are no recommendations to close library branches. However, due to a shortfall the Library is facing in Measure O, there is a proposal to cut some part-time staffing (8.28 FTE) during 2003-05, which will result in reducing four branches currently open 6 days a week to 5 days a week service. Under this proposal, the Library will implement a new branch schedule as follows:

Monday – Friday Branches: Brookfield, Elmhurst, MLK, Melrose, Montclair, Piedmont, Temescal, West Oakland
Tuesday – Saturday Branches: Asian, Chavez, Dimond, Golden Gate, Eastmont, Lakeview and Rockridge

The Main Library’s service hours will remain at 7 days a week. In addition, the Second Start Adult Literacy Program will relocate from a rented facility to a City facility. Other savings will come from the materials and operations budget, as well as an AAMLO exhibit reduction (the latter to be offset by a State Public Library Grant).

Please be advised that this is the Mayor and City Manager’s “proposed” policy budget to City Council. The City Council must still debate these proposals. A schedule of public hearings for the City Council budget meetings is still being worked out.

In the meantime, Oakland is sponsoring a “Budget Backgrounder” Town Hall meeting on May 7, 2003, 7:30 p.m. in City Hall Hearing Room 1. City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, Council member Danny Wan, and City Manager Robert Bobb will give the background of how the city budget is constructed, and answer these and other questions from community members. For more information about this public town hall meeting, call 238-7544.

BUDGET DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE, FY 2003-05 (as of 4/7/03)

FY 2003-05 Proposed Budget Submitted to Council ---- May 2, 2003

Budget Advisory Committee Input ---- Apr-May 2003

FY 2003-05 Proposed Budget Review/Hearings by Finance Committee/Council* ---- May 13 to Jun. 10, 2003

FY 2003-05 Budget Adoption ---- June 24, 2003

* We will publish the date(s) that the Library’s proposed budget will be publicly heard as soon as it becomes available.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 15, 2003

On Friday, March 7, the Oakland Public Library's Administrative Team presented the proposed 2003-05 Budget to the City Manager and his budget staff. The proposal presented was based on instructions issued by the City's Budget Office to develop a plan to reduce the Library's FY2003-2005 General Fund Operating Budget by 15%. Over the two years, this 15% reduction will reduce OPL's General Fund budget by $3,916,128. The plan presented does not eliminate any additional staff, nor does it close facilities or reduce service hours. However, this 15% reduction will necessarily have some impact on materials, programs and services that are offered to our community.

Although the proposed plan met with initial approval, it is still subject to City Manager and Mayoral acceptance and could be revised by the time it is merged with all of the other city departments' budgets for submittal to City Council sometime in April. Public hearings on the budget will begin in April or May, at which time the budget becomes a public document. Final approval and acceptance by Council will occur sometime prior to June 30.

We will be posting the list of pertinent dates regarding public hearings on the Library's budget on our Web site as soon as they become available.

Again, thank you for your interest and support.

To contact Save Our Libraries, please visit:
http://www.saveoaklandlibrary.org/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 14, 2003

OAKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY BRANCHES GET REPRIEVE FROM BUDGET AXE;
MAIN AND OTHER SERVICES IMPACTED BY MID-YEAR REDUCTIONS

Oakland, CA. -- A vigorous effort to save as many as seven branch libraries from closure by library supporters and several Oakland City Council members resulted in the decision to keep open branch libraries at a special City Council meeting on February 7, 2003 that was attended by a large crowd of library advocates, including several classes of local school children. The original proposal to reduce the Oakland Public Library's General Fund budget by $2.1 million (about 20% of its annual budget) was also revised by the time the Mayor and City Manager's proposal reached Council members at this critical hearing. Instead, the Library lost 16.5 full-time equivalent staff in Main, Community Relations/Volunteer Services, Financial Services, Teen Services and the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO). A spending freeze of $480,000 was also approved, and the book budget for the remaining fiscal year was restored to approximately $67,000. The Oakland Public Library's final losses totaled about $800,000 - to be effective March 1, 2003.

" We are grateful to the residents of Oakland who rallied to demonstrate to our City leaders the importance of library services," said Carmen Martinez, Library Director. "Now comes the difficult part of implementing these cuts with the least effect on public services."

The latest budget problems for Oakland were initiated by Governor Gray Davis's proposal to take away the Vehicle License Fee backfill to the cities, which would have resulted in an immediate loss of $7.5 million to Oakland alone. Although the plan to implement this was later postponed, the city still faced a $19.5 million mid-year deficit. The Mayor and City Manager's budget reduction plan - approved by the City Council at its February 7th meeting - was intended to close this fiscal gap. Although reductions were spread across a number of City agencies - including Police and Fire - the Oakland Public Library took the greatest number of staff reductions.

In the upcoming fiscal year, 2003-2005, the city of Oakland is facing a projected deficit of approximately $45 million. Many City Council members, as well as Oakland's mayor, Jerry Brown, have mentioned that the biggest financial challenges still lie ahead.

Produced by Library Community Relations, Updated 3/05/03