Library Staffer Says Services Are Needed

Victoria Rakhshteyn is adamant: Stamford's library services are essential.

Rakhshteyn, a library assistant stationed on the newly opened third floor of the Ferguson Library, believes cuts will be detrimental to city users. Not only are hours being reduced, plans also call for significant cuts in full- and part-time staff.

"That means people will not be helped as they're supposed to be helped," says Rakhshteyn, a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, who speaks Russian and English fluently. A resource of bilingual staff members is one of the many amenities the library offers patrons, she said.

"We have many Spanish-speaking people who come here, and they don't speak any English," she says. "All librarians speak two languages." But patrons whose primary mode of communication is Spanish, Russian, French or another non-English language can still be served at Ferguson, Rakhshteyn says.

That is likely to change, however, if planned cuts are implemented. Last week, Ferguson's Board of Trustees announced the library would lay off 10 to 12 full-time staff members and an undetermined number of part-time employees to address a $1.2 million operating budget deficit. The other cuts are a reduction in hours at the main library and all of its branches. The cuts include operating the branches only two days each week and eliminating Sunday hours in addition to shortening daily hours. Changes are scheduled to take effect Sept. 13.

"I just feel so sorry the library will be closed on Sunday. It's pretty crowded," says Rakhshteyn, noting that's one of the Ferguson's busiest days.

"We really hope that people will do something for the library," she says. "So many people in the city of Stamford use the library."

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