Consider this a friendly public service announcement.

Starting July 1, thanks to budget cuts, Multnomah County public libraries will no longer be open for business on Mondays. And since the Monday after this one is July 2, that means TODAY IS THE VERY LAST MONDAY you can freely show up to use the bathrooms, enjoy some afternoon air-conditioning, look at the internet, and, maybe, why not, read a book (that they’ll even let you take home!).

Details for all the branches, which also include some reduced hours on other days, are at the library’s website, but here’s a snapshot of what you’ll find:

Screen_shot_2012-06-25_at_11.44.50_AM.png

Is it going to be this way forever—especially since we have the nation’s second-busiest library system? Hopefully not. Although that’s really up to you (and me), the voters.

The tax levy we just approved in May kept awful budget cuts from turning drastic. but it wasn’t enough (even with the library dipping into its reserves and the county’s general fund offering a bailout) to stop the bleeding. And, so, this week, Multnomah County commissioners will take the first step toward creating an actual library taxing district, a “permanent and stable” source of revenue.

Commissioners are expected to schedule a hearing on the taxing district next month, and could vote to put the issue on the fall ballot. It’ll be good for the library, but it comes with a cost. Because of property tax “compression,” creating the district could put a pinch on other local governments, like the city of Portland. (Although, with the county out of the business of propping up the library, its operating budget would actually improve.)

And unlike the easy tax vote this spring, opponents will likely muster this fall.

UPDATE 3 PM: The Tribune says the county commissioners want to hold listening sessions at the Central Library and four other branches before any public hearing and vote. And, after the jump, the county offers a more complete list of what is and isn’t going to be available on Mondays.

What’s not available?

• Any services you normally would access inside a library building: storytime for kids, summer reading, reference desk help, inter-library loan checkouts and reservations, and community-room space. Which is mostly what you think of when you think of a library.

What’s still available?

• Library administration—although that’s not really something that affects most members of the public.

• Free-for-all book returns. If you need to return a book, book drops will be open and waiting for you. A few staffers will be on hand at all branches to collect books dropped off in one place (like, say, Hollywood) that then need to be ported back to the branch they were checked out at (like, say, Kenton).

• The library system’s phone-in question-answering service—although librarians from other communities will the ones who pick up. So you might be okay with general questions, but S.O.L. for county-specific issues.

Denis C. Theriault is the Portland Mercury's News Editor. He writes stories about City Hall and the Portland Police Bureau, focusing on issues like homelessness, police oversight, insider politics, and...

9 replies on “This Is the Last Monday (For Now?) You Can Visit the Library”

  1. So, a lot of local government around here seems to be in dire straights, cutting this and that. But my property taxes never fell in the recession, and in fact go up 3% every year.

    So why are local governments which derive funding from property taxes suddenly falling apart around our ears? Denis?

    (Except Trimet which gets funding from payroll taxes and is directly hit by local employment losses.)

  2. In addition to the cuts in hours, there will be cuts in the materials budget (so, fewer books, DVDs, etc). The desks at the Central Library that are currently staffed by professional Librarians with years of experience (Science and Business on the 2nd floor and both Humanities desks on the 3rd floor) will be staffed by paraprofessional Library Assistants with a few hours of training.

  3. Dislike my comment all you want, but I’m really asking. Maybe some additional reporting on how we got here would be valuable.

  4. Hey Blabby,

    The property tax code around here is crazy, thanks to Measures 5/50. County services that are funded by levy experience something called “compression,” which this year took away 30% of the levy funding that was supposed to go to library operations. Oh, and that 3% growth on your property taxes is based on the value of your home in 1996. I could go on about properties that are “opt outs,” but I’ll quit before your eyes glaze over even more than they already have.

  5. Actually I know all that stuff. The 1996 peg and opt outs haven’t really affected prop tax revenue during the recession. Those are the same as they have been.

    But I wasn’t aware that compression could reduce levy funding by 30% in one year. Thought compression was more gradual than that. I will try to find info on that happening.

  6. And to think the last measure we passed was supposedly to keep funding where it was – as opposed to the new one coming up.
    Maybe my understanding is wrong here, but I’m pretty sure it was framed that way.
    Now, this stopping of service on mondays wouldn’t be a sort of ‘threat’ to us library patrons, would it?
    Why don’t they cut those ‘security’ positions out before cutting service anyway?

  8. @dmitrir “staffed by paraprofessional Library Assistants with a few hours of training.” is an untrue statement. Many library assistants hold MLS/MLIS degrees and everyone who works reference goes through rigorous hiring process and many hours of training, with repeat trainings required.

Comments are closed.