O鈥橣ALLON, Mo. 鈥 Three library branches could close and 39 employees, mostly part-time, could be laid off under a plan outlined Friday night by the St. Charles City-County Library District.
The branches on the possible shutdown list are McClay in St. Charles, Deer Run in O鈥橣allon and Kisker Road near Weldon Spring.
In addition, 25 vacancies wouldn't be filled under the proposal, which was explained by district CEO Jason Kuhl.
The district's board voted to hold off a decision on the plan for 30 days after various residents asked for a delay during a public comment segment of the meeting.
"Delay the vote, get public input, do this the right way," said Thomas Tavares, 48, of St. Peters.
About 200 people, including many who had to watch a videoboard in an overflow room, showed up for the meeting聽鈥 which began with a presentation by Kuhl. The session was held at the Middendorf-Kredell branch in O鈥橣allon.
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Kuhl said the library system is facing financial problems caused in part by the rising cost of electronic books and a streaming platform used increasingly in recent years by library patrons.
He said the library, which spent nothing on streaming as recently as 2015, now pays $50,000 to $60,000 a month on the service due to user demand.
鈥淚n a year or two without changes, we will be spending more to keep the doors open than we are collecting in revenue,鈥 Kuhl said of the library's general financial situation.
He said the closures and elimination of some staff positions also would allow the district to increase pay for remaining employees, who he said are underpaid.
He said a review conducted last year for the district said its employees are getting paid 18.7% below rates paid to employees of other libraries and similar businesses in the St. 不良研究所导航网址 metro area. That has made it more difficult to retain workers and to attract new ones, he said.
He added that surveys taken for the district indicate that there is little support for increasing property taxes, the library's main source of revenue.
He said the plan calls for closing the Kisker Road and McClay branches June 30. Meanwhile, he said, the Deer Run branch would stay open until early next year when the Middendorf-Kredell building reopens after renovation work; it's set to close temporarily on June 1.
Deer Run eventually would be turned into a warehouse, saving the district $100,000 it now pays each year to rent one.
Kuhl said that money, along with proceeds from selling the Kisker Road and McClay buildings, could be used to improve and expand the Corporate Parkway branch in Wentzville.
Several residents complained about the way the plan was unveiled to the public.
Only two days earlier the district had announced the special meeting and that a vote might be taken on a closure plan that could trigger "workforce reorganization and reduction." District officials refused to elaborate until the Friday meeting.
"It's a sucker punch," said Grant Kilen, 18, of St. Peters. "Nobody knew this was coming."
Some others said the district should put a tax hike on the ballot to try to avoid the cuts and let voters decide. "We can get this done if you just give us the opportunity," said David Rogers, 39, who lives in an unincorporated area, said of library supporters.
Aimee Robertson, 46, of O'Fallon, said the plan would be unfair to frontline staffers facing layoffs and treat them "like cogs in a machine rather than the loyal and valuable humans that they are."
Matt Seeds, a library board member from O'Fallon, suggested that the board consider other alternatives.
As an example, he said maybe the library should set up a membership system in which people who use the library's e-books and streaming platform pay a fee and others who just check out traditional books pay nothing.
In response, Kuhl said memberships might be something to look at. But he said charging a fee per digital search, which he said others had suggested, likely would be prohibited by the district's agreements with providers.
Seeds made the motion to delay a vote for 30 days to allow more public input and to consider possible alternatives. The board agreed on a voice vote.
St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann and St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer, who appoint the nine-member board, said in interviews earlier that district officials had emphasized to them the increased use by library users of electronic books which cost the system more than those on the shelves.
鈥淭hey definitely have a problem,鈥 Ehlmann said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to have to do something. This isn鈥檛 a growth problem and it鈥檚 not an overspending problem.鈥
The library board鈥檚 consideration of closures and staff cuts apparently has no connection with a continuing controversy over the past year over sexual content of some books.
Speakers at board meetings have repeatedly complained about them; others have defended district officials.
After months of criticism, the system announced in December that it would remove books containing explicit photos of sexual acts from library shelves but that they still would be available in the district鈥檚 online card catalog and to check out.
In another flap, about 35 protesters showed up at a library branch last May to complain that a library clerk had been wearing makeup, nail polish and a goatee. About 60 others showed up to oppose them.
Updated at 3 a.m. Saturday