TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y. — The Tompkins County Public Library (TCPL) could lay off up to seven of its full time library workers next year.
Library leadership said the layoffs, if they go forward, would be a result of likely 5% funding cuts by the Tompkins County Legislature as a part of the county’s 2025 budget process. The funding cut is part of an across the board belt-tightening effort by county legislators.
The possibility of layoffs also comes amid ongoing labor contract negotiations and questions from staff, patrons and some local leaders about the library’s overall direction.
In a Nov. 4 interview, Tompkins County Public Library Director Leslie Tabor said she views layoffs as a “worst-case scenario” of the proposed funding cut, but said she is not ruling anything out.
“I don’t like talking about layoffs,” Tabor said. “I don’t like my staff being really scared for their jobs. But I also have to say, if we’re going to face a shortfall, here’s the reality of what that looks like.”
The library is not an official department of Tompkins County but relies heavily on county funds and facilities. Around 81% of the library’s 2024 budget was supported through county funds, the majority of which goes towards salaries and benefits for its roughly 40 employees. The county also owns and maintains the library’s building.
The cuts will translate to a $216,587 reduction in the library’s funding over the current year. While the library is currently projected to end the year with a surplus of funds, Tabor told legislators she expects operational costs to increase by $308,398 due to inflation and contractually obligated raises.
Tabor said she had requested additional funds in hopes of defraying the 5% cut, but Tompkins County Legislator Rich John, the liaison between the library’s board and the county legislature, said he felt it is unlikely any requests would be approved.
Local governments this year have faced staunch opposition from taxpayers on spending in a year when many are likely to see larger-than-average increases on property tax bills. The final county budget is set to go for a vote on Tuesday, Nov. 19. The current version does not include additional funds for the library.
John and other county legislators, library employees and community members have called on the library’s board of trustees to consider using part of the library’s $1.74 million surplus of funds, known as a fund balance, in order to avoid layoffs.
“If you want to look at [the fund balance] as a ‘rainy day fund,’ well, it’s raining now,” John said.
John said he felt the county’s funding cut is exactly the sort of scenario the fund balance is designed to cushion against.
“You can address a shortfall in a lot of different ways, and they’re looking at all the different options, which makes sense,” John said. “But if you think about the impact of the cuts in positions, it’s hard for the library to make those cuts without seeing some real impact on the services that they’re offering to the public.”
At public meetings, some library staff members and patrons have repeatedly implored both the county legislature and the library’s board of trustees to take action to avoid layoffs of existing employees.
Many, including 23-year veteran library assistant Kelly Doolittle, said reductions to staff could impact community access to the resources and programming currently offered by the library. Beyond books, library staff said they have helped people apply for jobs, file taxes and access opioid overdose prevention resources, among other roles.
“I’m asking you to consider the lifelong value that Tompkins County Public Library staff have striven to offer to our community,” Doolittle told legislators. “Help us, old and new, to keep that service alive and growing with proper funding.”
Some staff also called on the board to consider a hiring freeze rather than layoffs. The library has seen high staff turnover in the past two years and some positions remain unfilled. Earlier this year, the board also approved a recommendation by Tabor to hire a communications director and up to four library assistants.
While the idea of a hiring freeze has not seen much discussion among board members, TCPL board treasurer Blixy Taetzsch said drawing on the fund balance to cover labor costs was “a part of the conversation” during a Nov. 8 meeting.
“If you want to look at [the fund balance] as a ‘rainy day fund,’ well, it’s raining now.”
“The committee also agreed that it’s a priority to avoid a reduction in workforce, even if it does mean utilizing the fund balance to do that,” Taetzsch said.
Taetzsch and other board members said they would not make a decision on the matter until after the county finalizes its budget and they receive updated staffing recommendations from Tabor. She added the board would likely not make a final decision on layoffs until January.
Library board members have resisted drawing on the fund balance to cover salaries and benefits thus far because they are recurring costs. The policy states that the balance can be used to cover “any emergency, loss of revenue, or unusual and non-recurring expenditures.”
Board members also said dipping into the fund balance now could impact the library’s ability to meet its new target minimum for the reserve fund.
On June 25, the library’s board voted to increase the target size of the unassigned portion of the library’s fund balance from 15% of yearly operating expenses to 25%.
As of Sept. 30, the library’s total fund balance was $1.74 million, or 34.29% of the library’s 2024 revised operating budget. The unassigned portion is $1.14 million, which is equal to 22.53% of the library’s yearly expenses for 2024. Current projections show the library is set to end the year with a surplus of funds, which would further increase the size of its fund balance.
The board cited recommendations from the non-profit Government Advisory Standards Board, which states that government agencies should aim to have about a quarter of its yearly operating expenses in reserve.
In a May 21 meeting, board members also cited upcoming union contract negotiations as a factor in the timing of their decision.
Tabor said library board members had especially considered concerns over climate-related disasters and other large scale crises when it adopted the new policy this summer.
“There are libraries in North Carolina that are flooded [after Hurricane Helene]. There may be insurance coverage, but for something super devastating, probably insurance wouldn’t cover all of it,” Tabor said. “Most recently, the board is thinking about COVID, which the library was able to get through because they had a fund balance for an unprecedented global pandemic.”
Tompkins County Legislator Randy Brown criticized the recent change to the fund balance policy and said he would recommend the library draw on its savings to cover the deficit and maintain staffing.
Brown also noted that the county owns the building that houses the library and covers the building’s insurance premium, which means that the county bears most of the liability if a disaster were to occur.
“Why would you want to damage operations or cut employees — important employees — just to keep money in the bank, especially when […] any catastrophic expenses are things the county’s going to cover?” Brown told The Ithaca Voice.
Brown has advocated for, and succeeded in, moving money away from the county library in order to support rural libraries. The budget amendment further reduces the Tompkins County Public Library’s budget allocation by $20,000, which would be divided between the county’s five other libraries.
Brown said that while his decisions on funding are based on his interpretation of county audits of the library’s finances, he acknowledged he and other legislators have heard concerns from community members about the library’s leadership.
Many concerns initially stem from a large book “weeding” project Tabor oversaw that resulted in about 45% of the library’s collection discarded, according to library catalog data.
Professional library standards recommend librarians periodically go through their collections and discard books that are outdated, worn beyond repair or haven’t been checked out in a while. Tabor said that prior to her tenure as director, the library had fallen behind on the practice.
But the size and scope of the effort has drawn criticism from community members and some library staff, as well as scrutiny from the library’s regional and state partners.
At an Oct. 30 budget hearing, United Auto Workers Local 2300 president Christine Johnson, whose union represents TCPL’s staff implored legislators to separate any concerns over library leadership from decisions about its funding.
Still, in an interview with The Ithaca Voice, Johnson acknowledged that the frequent conversations around layoffs felt like an effort to create a “chilling effect” on the bargaining process.
Tabor declined to directly comment on any effect the layoffs might have on union negotiations, but both she and Johnson have separately acknowledged that negotiations have gotten off to a rocky start.
Between two bargaining units, the UAW represents around 40 employees at the library, nearly the entire staff. Both contracts expire at the end of 2024.
The Tompkins County Legislature will take a final vote on its budget — library funding and all — on Nov. 19.
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