Trustees of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County decided at their November 11 meeting to keep open all 41 branches through 2003. The board had considered closing five branches to make up for budget shortfalls due to reduced state funding. The idea met with resistance from residents who packed a series of public hearings in the fall to protest the closings.
The library had to cut its original 2003 budget from $68.1 million to $49.4 million, the Associated Press reported November 12. The difference will be made up by reducing service hours, postponing equipment purchases, and delaying such capital projects as the construction of four new branches.
Library administrators said that no layoffs are planned; instead, they are eliminating scheduled new positions, not replacing staff that leave, and postponing a 2% cost-of-living raise for employees.
Posted November 18, 2002.