Business
Library layoffs and furloughs to save close to $500K
More than a dozen workers at the La Crosse Public Library will be out of jobs at the end of this week, as the library needs to meet city budget-cutting goals.
The library board is permanently cutting 4 full-time and 11 part-time jobs, effective Friday.
Eight other full-time workers will be furloughed for most of the summer, until September.
Nearly 50 remaining library staffers will be laid off for 18 days each at different times throughout the remainder of 2020.
Total cuts in staffing, equipment, and services exceed half-a-million dollars.
The city’s three libraries remain closed to most customers, although many people have been allowed inside by appointment to use the library computers.
Library board members call the budget cuts ‘difficult’ and ‘heartbreaking’ budget cuts, to make up for funding shortages due to the coronavirus.
The library is also cutting some materials, supplies, and travel expenses, with reductions representing 10 per cent of the library’s budget.