Stamford's Ferguson Library patrons such as Francesca Nivrose have reason to smile. The library's hours, which had been scheduled to change drastically today, will remain constant for now as board members seek ways to address a whopping deficit.
"We're postponing the cuts until the beginning of October," said Ernest DiMattia Jr., president of the library's board of directors. For now, he said, the library will keep its summer hours.
"We've left the hours intact. We haven't reduced them," he said. "We're going to leave everything as it is at least for the rest of September."
Francesca, who depends on the library's resources for help with schoolwork, was among the residents who had expressed disappointment last month when the library announced it would cut hours.
"I'm sad," she said at the time. "We need the library."
The reason for the 11th-hour reprieve is ongoing negotiations that promise to help ease the library's fiscal burden. DiMattia declined to comment on the specifics of those negotiations, for fear of derailing them. However, last month it was announced that library administrators would seek union concessions in an attempt to save funds.
"We are working on it," said DiMattia. "We are very encouraged."
The library is grappling with a $1.2 million budget deficit. To address it, the board had planned to drastically reduce hours, beginning today, as well as cut staff. The library board requested that the Board of Representatives establish a special library fund to close the funding gap. It withdrew that request, however, after receiving negative reaction from some city administrators that centered primarily on the authority of the Board of Representatives to create such a fund.
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