The first thing I looked into was my own county’s revisions in their budget with the onset of COVID-19. Chesterfield County, located in the suburbs, south of Richmond, had just presented their proposed 2021 budget on March 11th, 2020, when two days later the virus hit, and resulted in re-evaluation. Chesterfield County has 10 public library locations, and three of them were allotted funding for renovations in 2021; that funding was pulled. One library was allotted almost 1.25 million dollars for a complete rebuild, and the revised budget is now at zero dollars (Chesterfield County Government, 2020). However, this seems to be the trend for most building projects in the county budget. In addition, back in March, the county implemented furloughs: “furloughs came from departments already closed due to COVID-19 precautions, such as libraries, park programs and school” (Moreno, 2020). Just as Peet notes, “The decision to furlough or lay off staff is one of the most difficult library leaders make” (2020). This is indeed a difficult decision, but seems to be one of the first and most immediate ones taken in many public library systems. Personnel makes up a large part of a library’s budget and furloughs and layoffs certainly will make a large immediate impact. 

In San Antonio, libraries have struggled with meeting the needs of its patrons, especially those in economically disadvantaged areas. They noted the most important services as “access to physical materials (64%), public access to computers and the internet (60%), and job search and government application support (60%)” (Crowe, 2020). As they work to adjust their budget for 2021, they are taking into account what can be cut and what is essential, but they are anticipating greater cuts coming. Often this comes at the expense of people and forcing furloughs or layoffs, as I’m seeing in Chesterfield County. In Multnomah County’s library after cutting employees, Slymon commented, “She would like to open to the public, but doesn’t feel that she can do so safely with the staff she has now” (Peet, 2020). Libraries like those in Texas, Oregon, and Virginia are working to provide these essential services but will certainly face giant setbacks without the staffing. Furloughing and laying off employees may solve the problem immediately, but it will take away from this service. 

Public libraries across the country are feeling the effect of COVID-19 on their budgets, which brings me to an interesting page on Vermont.gov’s website that outlines guidance for libraries regarding their budgeting. It covers many of the items outlined in this week’s reading, including considering various funding sources, assessing the greatest needs in terms of resources as well as personnel (Vermont.gov, 2020). It asks good questions for libraries to consider when making budget cuts due to COVID. This is definitely a great resource for libraries who have some control over their budgets and are able to move things around as necessary.

Chesterfield County Government. (April 2020). Revised FY2021 budget and FY 2021 CIP. https://www.chesterfield.gov/DocumentCenter/View/15735/Revised-FY21-Budget-Document-PDF?bidId=

Granberry, M., Norimine, H., & Jaramillo, C. (2020, May 09). Dallas furloughs 472 city employees, cutting heavily into park & rec, libraries and the arts. Retrieved February 26, 2021, from https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2020/05/08/dallas-furloughs-472-city-employees-cutting-into-the-arts-and-nine-other-departments/ 

Moreno, S. (2020, April 02). Furloughing 500 Chesterfield county employees saves the county $2.5 million. officials say it’s not enough. Retrieved February 25, 2021, from https://richmond.com/news/local/furloughing-500-chesterfield-county-employees-saves-the-county-2-5-million-officials-say-its-not/article_ed1f6129-5b89-5123-a72f-d8ddbe710827.html 

Peet, L. (2020, September 24). Budgeting for the new normal: Libraries respond to COVID-19 funding constraints. Library Journal. https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=budgeting-for-the-new-normal-libraries-respond-to-covid-19-funding-constraints 

Vermont.gov. (2020). Department of libraries. Retrieved February 25, 2021, from https://libraries.vermont.gov/covid19/respondingtobudgetcuts