Library board to consider 5% budget increase, new Sunday schedules

Bucking a City of Windsor directive asking departments to cut five per cent from their budgets, the Windsor Public library board is poised to ask the city for a more than $450,000 increase next year the vast majority of which is unavoidable without cuts to service.

The proposed 2025 operating budget will be presented to the library board on Tuesday. From there, if endorsed, it will go to council for approval as part of the 2025 city budget process.

Library staff are proposing a budget of $9.5 million, an increase of $457,000 or 5.05 per cent over 2024.

The budget contains no significantnew spending: Just eight new hours, to 28 hours per week, for the library's graphic designer, "to increase the capacity of this position to meet the needs for completing all required work and assisting with increasing communication, both print and digital for the public."

The move will cost an extra $15,000 a year.

Much of the rest, staff wrote, was a result of salary and wage increases and changes to other consistent costs.

It includes an increase of about $38,000 as part of a new contract the city carries with Paladin Security for security at the Central branch.

The City of Windsor and library board chair Coun. Mark McKenzie did not return requests for comment.

Budget reduction options not recommended

There are options to reduce the budget, but staff say they're not recommending them to the board because the majority, about 70 per cent, of the library's budget is spent on staffing. "A budget reduction can only be achieved through a reduction in public service," the document states.

To achieve the city's directed goal of reducing their budget five per cent, they'd need to cut about $852,000.

"The closing of a library branch would satisfy this budget reduction, however, this option is not recommended, as it would have significant impact on customer service," staff said.

There are other changes that will have a "net zero" impact on the budget, like integrating Sunday hours into the regular work week of staff. Three additional positions, for a total of one full-time equivalent, will be added, staff wrote, but it will reduce the reliance on overtime.

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Becky Mayer, a librarian at the Windsor Public Library organized the tours.

Salaries and wages accounted for the largest chunk of the proposed budget increase, with a total of $324,000 of the $457,000 increase.

Ward 3 Coun. Renaldo Agostino, a council representative sitting on the library board, says the budget can be challenging because a library isn't expected to generate profit.

"What we look at is these amenities to the community that people need," he said. "We want to make sure that we continue that upward trajectory of offering these services."

He says the number one thing he wants to see is a new central branch, conversations about which are happening behind the scenes.

"It's my number one priority as a member of the board to really advocate for the new downtown branch and what it looks like and where it's going to be," he said.

Last budget cycle, councillors questioned whether any department had achieved the five per cent reduction, with Ward 6 Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac calling it "an exercise in frustration."

The report accompanies other reports on the agenda that outline changes to the branches' library hours.

Schedule, hours to be consistent across all branches

With the addition of Sunday hours in the latest contract between the union representing workers and the city, library staff have a new proposed schedule that would add Sunday hours and harmonize open hours across the city's 10 library branches.

In that proposed schedule for 2025, hours at some branches will be reduced, though overall hours will be added to the system. The libraries will be open 36 hours more per week in 2025 compared to 2024 winter hours, and 70 hours more compared to the summer schedule.

Library branches across the city currently have a total of 524 hours per week in the summer and 490 in the winter. The library system will have a total of 560 hours per week in 2025.

Library leadership met to discuss hours of operation and weighing the addition of Sunday hours. They considered equal service throughout the city for all neighbourhoods, day and evening program times, holidays, usage statistics in developing the proposed schedule.

With the 2025 schedule, hours would be the same across seasons and equal a total of 560 hours, though while some branches gain hours, others, like the Central branch, lose. The Central branch will have 56 hours a week year-round, instead of 68 in the winter and 60 in the summer.