Picturing new chapter for libraries. (Buffalo News, 2/21/2012)
Excerpt: The Buffalo & Erie County Library operates now as a federated system with 37 library buildings run by 23 trustee boards. That includes the 15-member Library Board appointed by the county executive and the mayor of Buffalo, as well as 22 other boards made up of roughly 130 people appointed by local towns and villages.
Funding, however, is in the hands of the county executive and the County Legislature, leaving the library at times dealing with sudden budget cuts that have forced trustees to trim hours or close libraries.
In 2005 and 2006, in the midst of a county budget crisis, 15 libraries were closed. That left library trustees thinking about new ways to run the system. Then, in 2010, Collins proposed cutting millions of dollars from the library budget, rekindling the idea.
"I really think that if we are independent of the county and the county budget process, that we'll be able to chart our own course without having to worry about the political ups and downs," said Suzanne Jacobs, a Lancaster library trustee and president of the Association of Contract Library Trustees.
The library trustees are proposing to create a special library legislative district run by one independent board whose trustees are elected by voters. Residents would also vote on proposed increases or decreases to the library system budget, Jakubowski said.
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