County OKs Plan to Cut Library Staffing

With little fanfare, the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a plan to reduce library staffing by 15 positions.

Nearly all library employees set to receive pink slips this week, however, have already found work elsewhere, within county government or at other libraries, so only about four people are expected to end up jobless, officials said.

The Library Services Agency’s amended plan, reached after negotiations with the Service Employees International Union, still centers on eliminating 34 of the agency’s 67 full-time positions and creating 19 slightly different jobs.

The money saved--at least $225,000--will allow the county to buy new books and equipment and keep the larger libraries in the 15-branch system open without exceeding the agency’s $5.8-million annual budget.

Fifteen of the 19 new positions will be automatically filled through seniority, leaving four top management jobs up for grabs among current employees. The initial proposal, sharply criticized by union leader Barry Hammitt, would have required all 34 employees, regardless of experience, to compete for the smaller pool of new jobs.

“The proposed structure has not changed,” said Richard Rowe, interim library director. “There is still a net reduction of 14.4 positions. However, the method for filling those positions will change.”

In 1992, the Library Services Agency employed 133 people and had a budget of $11.1 million. But after the Legislature approved a shift of property taxes to fund education that year, its fortunes hit the gutter--and critics complained that libraries employed too many managers, offered outdated books and were rarely open.

Only Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Santa Paula have separate library systems. But as a result of the drastic decline in county library services, some of the other cities threatened to pull out.