Dear Menlo Park City Council Members, As a resident, homeowner, frequent library user and chair of the Menlo Park Library Commission, I urge you to approve the budget request to add 3.25 permanent Library staff positions in the new fiscal year starting July 1 which will be discussed at your meeting tonight. It is crucial to the necessary operations that we all know are good for our city, especially the goals of providing meaningful access to the Belle Haven branch, for both adult and youth library patrons, that these positions be approved. I find it shocking that Menlo Park lags so far behind other local library systems in San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties in so many categories, most particularly ratio of library staff hours to library open hours, and lowest number of programs as sited in the Staff Report: https://www.menlopark.org/DocumentCenter/View/21823/D3-20190611-FY2019-20-budget-staff-augmentations-CC https://www.menlopark.org/DocumentCenter/View/21823/D3-20190611-FY2019-20-budget-staff-augmentations-CC >. As we move forward to improve library access to all members of our community, and prepare for the arrival of a new branch library in Belle Haven, it is imperative that we also move forward in transitioning from temporary to permanent staff in our library system. I agree whole heartedly with the statement, "If the city desires to grow the library programming to serve more residents and provide greater enrichment opportunities, there is a need to replace temporary personnel with regular personnel.” sited in the staff report and originally part of the June 5, 2018, City Council report outlining the scope and intent of the two-year plan. Thank you for your attention to my concerns. Best regards, Katie Hadrovic Received on Tue Jun 11 2019 - 11:35:36 PDT
