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The Portland Public Library's plan to close the branch surprises even city councilors.

By KELLEY BOUCHARD, Staff Writer May 6, 2008

Portland Public Library officials would close the Reiche Branch under the 2008-09 municipal budget proposal before the City Council, the library's executive director said Monday.

A handful of residents and library employees protested the planned closure during the council's final public hearing on the $185 million city budget, which would eliminate 98 municipal jobs to offset rising costs and falling revenue.

Annetta Weatherhead, a parent and special education aide at the Reiche Elementary School, said the library branch is an important asset for West End residents of all ages, especially students.

"It's a vital part of the community," Weatherhead said. "Many of these kids are going to be roaming the streets or home alone."

The plan to close the Reiche Branch, at Reiche School, surprised most councilors, including finance committee members, who have been reviewing the budget for weeks.

Councilors didn't discuss or take action on the issue but asked for information about the library's staffing and facilities plan before the council's 5 p.m. budget workshop next Monday. The council is scheduled to vote on the municipal budget on May 19.

Councilors noted that while taxpayers fund about 80 percent of the library system's budget, the library director and board of trustees decide how to spend the money. Councilor John Anton urged residents to attend the next trustees' meeting, at 4 p.m. May 14 at the main library.

Councilor David Marshall, a finance committee member who represents the West End, said he learned about the plan to close the Reiche Branch late Friday from Stephen Podgajny, the library's executive director.

"My understanding was that the cuts would affect the branches closest to the main library, but he didn't tell me he was going to close Reiche until Friday," Marshall said after Monday's hearing. "To close that branch will have a big impact on the neighborhood."

Podgajny didn't speak during the hearing, but he provided some information outside the council chamber.

The city's proposed $3.1 million appropriation for the library system reflects a $30,000 reduction from the current budget, Podgajny said. The Reiche Branch costs $72,000 a year to operate.

Last week, the finance committee restored $20,000 of a proposed $50,000 reduction in the city's appropriation.

Still, Podgajny said the equivalent of six full-time library employees must be laid off, including the two part-time librarians who staff the Reiche Branch.

Also, the main library, on Congress Street, would be closed on Mondays.

Podgajny said the Reiche Branch is closest to the main library and has the lowest lending rate of the city's three mainland branches, which include the Burbank Branch on Stevens Avenue and the Munjoy Hill Branch in the new East End Community School.

"People don't have to convince me that Reiche is special," Podgajny said. "But we can't have a library in every neighborhood because we can't sustain it."

Demand for library services is increasing. In 2006-07, the library loaned nearly 743,000 items ranging from books to magazines to videos. The number of items borrowed for 2007-08 is expected to exceed 800,000. About 620,000 people visit Portland public libraries each year, making it the most-used cultural institution in Maine, Podgajny said.

Also Monday night, the council unanimously approved an $89.5 million school budget for 2008-09, which will go to a first-time referendum on May 13, as required under the state's new school consolidation law. The budget would eliminate 20 school jobs in addition to more than 20 left vacant this year.

"What a difference a year makes," said Councilor James Cohen, who called this year's school budget review thorough and honest compared with last year's. Cohen and councilors Nicholas Mavodones Jr. and Daniel Skolnik urged voters to support the budget.

As proposed, the combined...