LA Libraries Open on Monday for First Time since Last Summer

Los Angeles - All 73 city libraries were open for business today, the first Monday they have been open in about a year, but the budget crunch that prompted the Library Department to scale back hours has not abated sufficiently to allow hiring back laid-off librarians.

The city's 64 branch libraries will also be closed for four hours Friday mornings starting this week to accommodate the Monday service.

"It was a library that really opened up the world for me," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said during a news conference at the Richard Riordan Central Library downtown. "I know that librarians have played a role in virtually all of our lives. They're a positive role model in shaping the lives of young people much as teachers are."

The mayor acknowledged librarians have been hard hit by budget cuts over the last three years.

The Library Department started closing libraries on Mondays last summer due to budget cuts that left library hours at their lowest point in the department's 140-year history. Since 2009, the department has lost nearly 300 librarians and other staff -- about 27 percent of its employees -- due to budget tightening and early retirement incentives.

"I don't relish the fact that we've had to make as much in the way of cuts as we have," Villaraigosa said. "I know it's been difficult for librarians, but every one of you have continued to do your job and continued to be a professional."

In March, voters approved a measure 63-37 percent to boost funding for libraries by increasing the percentage of property tax money the department receives.

"We won in every single city council district, all fifteen," Council President Eric Garcetti said. "All the residents said `open the libraries again."'

Measure L is supposed to increase funding for the library through 2015.

Library officials hope the revenue will enable libraries to open four nights per week, instead of two, and for the main library and eight regional branches to open every day.

Measure L funneled about $13 million to the Library Department for the fiscal year that started July 1. About $1.7 million will go toward hiring 300 part-time librarians and clerical staff, many of whom were laid off from full-time positions in recent years. The pool of "as-needed" workers will enable the department to open its 73 libraries on Mondays.

Restoring service on Mondays was a top priority for the department because it is traditionally a high-traffic day, City Librarian Martin Gomez said.

"It's when people go back to work and back to school. So for those procrastinators who didn't get their assignments done over the weekend, Mondays have been a popular day," he said.

The department is expected to receive an extra $800,000 in concessions from city labor unions.

The city department has about 800 employees and relies on nearly 7,000 volunteers for many tasks, Gomez said. About 1,000 volunteers help teach people to read. Others lead tours of the Central Library downtown or deliver books to homebound people.

Not everyone was happy about the re-opening.

The city is breaking its promise to re-hire fifteen full-time librarians and nine clerks, according to Roy Stone, president of the Librarians Guild.

"We've given them plans, and proposals, and ideas, and it could have been done," Stone said.

He acknowledged that laid off-librarians had been offered right-of-refusal to the part-time hours, but said the jobs came with no benefits and some were being offered only a few hours per week.

"Well thank you so much, I've been unemployed for a year now through no fault of my own," Stone said, echoing the voice of laid-off librarians.

"We've given them proposals, and we're going to give them another one this week. It can be done where it doesn't break the budget," Stone said.