Tuesday night (June 4th) the City Council will be giving the City staff very important budgetary feedback regarding our Library. Times are not the best and there is not enough money available to fund all the things the Council thinks are important.
Do you think it would help the community and the families who live here if our library was open more hours (perhaps even on Sunday) every week?
Do you think it’s time to move forward on replacing our current library, a library that by modern standards should be 21,000 square feet rather than the existing 6,000 square feet?
If you think the answer is yes to either of these then you need to be at the City Council meeting Tuesday night (June 4th).
Part of what the team that drafted the budget wrote in their report is on a page titled “ITEMS CONSIDERED, BUT NOT INCLUDED.” Two of the items on that page are: “An update of our library needs assessment and preliminary architectural services” and also “Increased library hours.” While this appears to be a negative statement it is not. In fact it is actually an open invitation from the team that drafted the budget, and should be interpreted as: “Please tell us if we are wrong and you actually want these things.”
If the public appears at the meeting and tells the Council that we need more hours and that we want progress on a new library then the Council will direct the staff to fund these items in next year’s budget.
If the public doesn’t appear then we can only hope the Council will do as desire without a strong showing of public support.
So be a part of the one-million library supporter flash mob (maybe a slight exaggeration!) and let the Council know that our library requests should be included in El Cerrito’s budgeted expenditures for next year.
Tuesday night June 4th, 7 PM at City Hall. The Budget is agenda item 7. Sign up in advance to speak or just be ready to stand up if someone speaks in favor of the library and finishes with “would everyone who agrees with my position please stand up?” That’s as good as speaking – some members of the Council even think it’s better.
If you can’t make it to the meeting then just send an email to: Councilmembers@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us and say “I support more library hours and I support updating the Needs Assessment – now, not later.”
Thank you so much, we need your support. See you Tuesday night.
The El Cerrito New Library Committee