Terry Kruger
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 29/00) - A decision to cut library hours and staff will go back to committee after city council voted Monday to have a second look at the motion.

The city's 2000 budget cut library hours Wednesday and Friday evenings and Saturday mornings (eight hours total), resulting in the layoff of six part-time pages and four call-in casual staff.

The cutback would save an estimated $47,000 this year.

Coun. Cheryl Best brought the issue back before council, saying "the closure has caused quite a stir."

Because of the wording of the motion, debate was less about the merits of the cutback, and more about the issue of revisiting a past decision.

"I'm concerned about a trend," said Coun. Robert Slaven. "We made the decision then (in December) with the information we had at hand. Reconsidering it implies we didn't think about the ramifications.

"I knew the consequences of this was going to upset people," added Slaven, who said he only reluctantly voted for the cutback in the first place.

Coun. Bob Brooks challenged that view, saying recent public outcry and other new facts make revisiting the debate relevant. "I'm concerned we didn't have all the information at the time," explained Brooks.

"We now have the information. I expect a full debate."

Presented Monday was a seven-point report outlining impact of the cuts.

The most telling point, said Coun. Kevin O'Reilly, was the impact of an increased workload on the remaining staff.

That includes a backlog in library loans, delays in returning materials to the shelves, displays aren't being done and development and maintenance of the collection is "largely being ignored," said the memo.

"Those are essential services," said O'Reilly. "It's clearly a reduction that affects service levels."

Other points in the memo indicated that the most complaints are over Saturday morning closure.

The memo suggested Saturday circulation remains relatively the same. It compared the number of items checked out on March 13, 1999 - 386 to March 11 of this year - 360.

Circulation figures for the first three months of this year, however, show a marked reduction. In January to March 27, 1999, 26,893 items were checked out. During the same period this year, the number has dropped to 23,913.

Closing at 5 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. Fridays and closing at 5 p.m. Wednesdays have stirred very little criticism, said the memo.

It's not known when the matter will come back before the city's public services committee.