The Salem Public Library. Photo taken by Sasha Williams.
The $15 million General Fund cut may result in the closure of the Salem Public Library in summer 2024.
On March 25, Salem held a city council meeting, led by Salem City Manager Keith Stahley. During the meeting, they introduced the need for taking action regarding the General Fund budget cut by June 30, 2024.
They discussed an article by the Statesman Journal in the meeting. In the meeting, the idea of the Salem Public Library being closed was introduced, which stimulated outrage. A Salem Reporter article said that the Salem counselors received emails from citizens and library employees arguing against why the library should not be closed. The article also said that many people took to social media, encouraging others to protest the closing of the library.
“I agree that the library is an incredibly important part of the cultural backbone of the city. Closing it would be a terrible loss at this point. No one is proposing that the library should close.” Stahley said.
Handling Budget Cuts
Nevertheless, In the city council meeting, four options were discussed on how to handle the budget cuts. The first option was recommended by the library employees. It included cutting eight library positions, eliminating city funding for homeless villages and taking away funding for recreation and park services. The city manager said that he was planning on basing his 2025 budget on option one. The third option was making no reductions to public safety, which would mean closing the library for the fiscal year of 2025.
However, this third option was the main source of media outrage, with people not wanting to sacrifice the public library for funding for the police and fire department.
“The reality is that all our city services will be cut.” Counselor Virginia Stapleton said.
Despite the budget cuts, there are still projects that Salem is funding. Some projects include a $4.25 million renovation for Greer Park, a $39.5 million renovation for the Salem Civic Center and a failed resolution to put bridges over Mill Creek.
A revenue task force is working to raise money for Salem’s general fund. Their main focus is to raise money for the Salem Public Library and emergency services.
There will be more meetings discussing the future of the library and other public services which are listed as follows:
-April 10 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at Baxter Hill Community Hall, 1780 Baxter Road S.E.
-A virtual town hall on April 16 from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
-April 23 at Center 50+, 2615 Portland Rd. N.E. from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
