Crozet Library Seeking Funding for More Library Hours

Received via email. This is the Albemarle County Budget.

Dear friends of Crozet Library,

The Albemarle County Executive’s proposed budget for FY2015, released recently, includes increased funding for the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library. Those increases cover:

1. Mandates required by the County’s requested changes to the revised regional agreement,
2. Additional costs due to the development of the new Northside Library,
3. Salary increases to bring JMRL staff pay closer to comparable County positions, part of a multi-year effort,
based upon the County’s recommendation of a professional salary comparison.

The budget presentation cover (screenshot attached) features our beautiful library and the community-volunteer-staffed Book Brigade.

What the proposed budget does not include: the $34,000 in funds needed to increase the hours the Crozet Library is open.

The County built it; we furnished it; and the community is using the library in unanticipated numbers. The librarians donated their time (and creative planning) to staff Exam Cram during the WAHS and Henley exam week and the library was filled with teens.

We are grateful for the support of the County and we know they have heard often from this community about the need for increased hours. We hope that hearing from the community now will help the Supervisors realize they could make a large number of Western Albemarle citizens happy with a relatively small amount of money.

If you care about increasing the hours the library is open, now would be the time to contact the Board of Supervisors with your concerns. Here’s how:

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