Greetings,

It’s your friendly neighborhood City Librarian. Six months ago I shared with you updates in Library funding and how it would impact hours and services. Since that time, a lot has happened, much of it related to the Budget Process and funding for Library Services. First and foremost, I would like to give a big THANK YOU to all of you who advocated to preserve library funding so that we keep our current services, hours, and staffing levels. I also want to give another big THANK YOU to our Mayor, Chris Hoy, and City Staff who helped find extra funds to help sustain us for another year. And a final thank you to the members of the Budget Committee and City Councilors who voted unanimously to support the proposal that included one-time funding for Library services. We are delighted to be able to maintain our current service levels, especially staff, through this year. I am hopeful that this time next year, the City of Salem, including our entire community, will have found a solution to the revenue problem that will support our current programs and services and allow the library to expand services, hours, and staffing to continue serving you better.

Since reducing our hours in January, we have seen a slight decrease in our circulation, library visits, and library use. However, we are delighted to report that we have seen a growth in our program attendance and digital circulation. We also increased the number of pop-up libraries, which help us provide library materials and resources to those who are unable to visit the library in person. Some other notable additions have been increasing our Spanish and digital collections, adding accessibility tools such as browsing baskets, noise cancelling headphones, and updating our library map for locating collections faster. We also started offering storytimes in Russian and American Sign Language and created an ongoing monthly event called Programs for Accessible Learning, which serves adults with disabilities.

In an effort to support staff, develop their skills, and increase their safety in their work environment, we held multiple staff training opportunities this year, including a very successful Staff Development Day where staff learned about team building, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), mandatory reporting, and more!

I am hopeful that by this time next year, new funding will have been found to continue to expand our services to continue to provide high-quality programming and resources to our community through the wonderful suggestions from our Revenue Task Force, which were presented to City Council members in a work session on July 15. The Revenue Task Force held their final meeting last month and agreed to a series of recommendations to help the City of Salem address its revenue shortfall. We do not know how Council will decide to proceed but they will have that discussion in another work session on August 19. In the meantime, we look forward to the opportunity to continue serving you and welcoming you to the library.

Warmest regards,
Bridget Esqueda
City Librarian