PROVIDENCE – The board of trustees of the Providence Public Library voted on Thursday to transfer control of its nine neighborhood library branches to the city within the next two months.
The board of PPL – a private nonprofit that has run the city’s library system, with taxpayer support, for more than a century – sparked an outcry when it voted in December to shutter five of the nine branches to close a $1.4 million deficit for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The decision followed years of rancor between PPL and city officials over the future of the library system.
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Mayor David N. Cicilline is expected to give responsibility for managing the branches to Providence Community Library, a nonprofit group formed last year for that purpose by city activists unhappy with PPL’s leadership.
“I applaud the decision by the mayor and city officials to assume full responsibility for the funding and operation of branch library services for residents of Providence,” William Simmons, the board’s chairman, said in a statement. “This decision establishes the necessary relationship between Providence library patrons and their elected officials responsible for funding the library services with tax dollars.”
Earlier this month, Cicilline proposed that PPL transfer control of the entire library system, including the Central Branch on Empire Street, to the city. In addition to the role it plays in the city library system, the Central Branch also serves a number of statewide functions.
The PPL board voted Thursday to consider giving up Central as well, and said it has asked the mayor for more details on his suggestion. But Simmons signaled that the trustees still expect Central Branch to remain with their organization.
“While initially it will be a difficult first year, our planning is not just for one year or even two, but for the next 100 years, and we have everything we need to field a first-class library,” he said. The board is considering a plan that would maintain some services within the Central Branch but close its doors to the public.
Linda Kushner, a former state representative who is one of the founders of the new Providence Community Library group, said she was glad the PPL had made an official decision to divest itself of the branches, although she noted that the mayor has not yet designated who will take charge of managing them once they come under the city’s control.
“We are very anxious to get going on the transition,” she told PBN. “I think that the [PPL] and the city and PCL agree that the branches should be run by PCL.” She added: “We had wanted to have this resolved in March, which would have given us a long period [to do the transition].”
It is not yet clear when the transfer will take place, but PCL is working with the mayor’s office on leasing and contracts, she said. The new group expects to employ roughly 70 of PPL’s current employees to run the nine branches.
The PPL board stipulated that the transfer of the nine branches would need to be completed by July 1, according to a statement issued by the library. Since it will no longer have responsibility for the branches by the summer, PPL also said it will begin issuing layoff notices to many of its employees next week.
Kushner, who attended Thursday’s trustees meeting, said a number of library employees were also in attendance, and they expressed concern about the possibility of layoffs.
In an e-mail to PPL staff members on Thursday that was provided to PBN, Dale Thompson, PPL’s director, said: “I also want to express my deep regret about how confusing and distressing today’s Trustee meeting was for everyone. I’m particularly concerned that issues of vital concern to the staff were not addressed.”
“The change that is coming, no matter the direction, will greatly affect all of us and I want you to know that I share in your sadness,” Thompson wrote.
Mark McKenney, who is Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s representative on the library board, said PPL should seriously consider transferring the Central Branch to the city, and shift its focus to providing financial support for the library system from the sidelines. PPL still has a large endowment, which was worth nearly $40 million in 2007 but has almost certainly lost considerable value since then due to turmoil in the markets.
“In the absence of political and public support – and the two aren’t necessarily the same thing – it seemed to me that it’s worth at least exploring the possibility that it’s time for the PPL to get out of the business of running a library directly, and let the city run it,” McKennedy told PBN. But, he added, “I’m not betting the ranch on that.”
McKenney also warned that the new PCL group may run into the same problems as PPL if the city does not provide it with enough funding to run the library system. He said the city should explore running the library system as a municipal department, something the Cicilline administration has said it would prefer to avoid.
The Providence Public Library is a 131-year-old private, nonprofit organization that serves as a public library for Providence, providing free information resources, education and community services. It also operates the Statewide Reference Resource Center, serving all Rhode Islanders with educational, cultural enrichment and economic advancement opportunities. To learn more, visit www.ProvLib.org.
Providence Community Library is a nonprofit established by city residents to take over the support and management of Providence’s neighborhood libraries should the city and the PPL fail to reach agreement that would keep all nine branches open. To learn more, visit www.ProvidenceCommunityLibrary.org.
For news and information from Providence, visit www.ProvidenceRI.com.
