St. Charles City-County library patrons are relieved that a unanimous vote will keep libraries open, at least until next year.
Last month, the library board planned to close the McClay, Kisker Road and Deer Run libraries within a year so the system could divert money to other needs. But last week, the board voted to keep the three branches open. That came as a relief to library users, who said branches are a vital part of the community.
“People need interactions with other people,” said Sherry Doney, a recently retired St. Charles resident. “Going to the library will be perfect for me to go interact with people, socialize. They have all kinds of different activities for seniors, and you just get to meet some new people that may be in the same situation.”
Library CEO Jason Kuhl announced the proposal to close the branches at an unplanned board meeting last month. Kuhl said then that the library system would use funding from the smaller branches to pay for e-resources and salary raises.
“It's not necessarily a revenue problem,” Kuhl said at that board meeting. “This is really about how the library operates based upon the challenges and ways that our public are using the library and the changing way people are consuming information.”
The plan aimed to raise wages for mid-level employees but fell short of bringing salaries to market rates. Kimberly Allen, a librarian at McClay, asked board members to vote against the pay raise during last month’s board meeting.
“I’ve felt for a while now that the people at the top, the administration, cared very little about the frontline staff,” Allen said. “We need more transparency with our staff and community going forward.”
Allen was among hundreds of protesters outside the board meetings that followed Kuhl’s initial proposal.
St. Charles resident Dale Keter said this week the library patrons plan to continue working to save the branches.
“We basically won the battle, but the war's not over,” Keter said. “They don't understand that not everything has to make a profit for it to be a benefit to the community."
The small branches won’t survive long, said Kuhl, since e-books cost more than $50,000 each month. The branches could close next year if the library system can’t balance the budget before January.
“In a year or two without changes, we will be spending more to keep the doors open than we will be collecting revenue,” Kuhl said.
The mayors and council members in St. Charles, St. Charles County and Wentzville passed resolutions supporting the libraries and asking library officials to request a state financial audit.
Preserving libraries is a nonpartisan issue, said Aimee Robertson, a St. Charles resident. She’s among hundreds of residents who have spoken out against the planned closures.
“I recognized people from both sides of the political spectrum, and all united on the same message,” Robertson said: “Don't shut down our libraries.”
