Library Journal Article May 12th, 2011

http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/890584-264/houston_public_library_to_lay.html.csp

Houston Public Library To Lay Off 39 Employees
By Michael Kelley May 12, 2011

The Houston Public Library is going to lay off 39 employees effective July 1 as its budget continues to shrink.
The layoffs will mean that the 42-branch system's staff will have shrunk from 558 FTEs in FY10 to 469 for FY12, a 16 percent reduction.
"We cannot remain the same organization with that kind of impact to our system, so it's giving us an opportunity to reassess, reimagine, and retool the way we do business and utilize staff," Director Rhea Lawson told LJ.
On June 7, Lawson will be going before the City Council to try and hold the line for FY12. The proposal on the table right now has the library facing another cut to its budget, from $37.1 million in FY11 to $32 million. Houston is making cuts to all city agencies as it tries to close an expected $75 million gap in its FY12 budget, according to Jessica Michan, Mayor Annise Parker's press secretary. The library's budget was $39.3 million in FY10.
Lawson said that if the library has a budget of $32 million it should be able to preserve its core mission and continue to avoid closing any branches.
"It was very important to me and to the staff and to the people we serve that libraries remain open to communities, and even if we had to reduce the hours, having some access is very, very important, so we were able to make that happen," she said.
Lawson defined the core services as student support, literacy advancement, technology access and instruction, and workforce development.
"We recognized that we needed to zero in on some core business priorities, and we rested with those," she said. "And they've been working out pretty well for us."
The library has been having managers oversee more than one location and employing unified circulation/reference desks where staff members are cross trained as a way of coping with the loss of staff.
"When you are challenged you really do have to take a step back and reassess and look at your organization," Lawson said. "You find out where your strengths and weaknesses are and you use your best thinking and skill sets and move forward," she said.
A representative from the Houston Organization of Public Employees Local 123 (HOPE), which represents some library workers, could not be reached for comment, but Melvin Hughes, the president, said in an April 28 message to members that HOPE "has never supported layoffs."