Right now Rockford librarians are putting all their research skills to work trying to find alternative ways to fill the organization's 1.7 million dollar deficit. The library board approved deep cuts Monday night, but the union has ten days to come up with other options.

The news that 30 Rockford Public Library employees, a quarter of the entire staff, will lose their jobs, hit librarian assistant Karla Janssen especially hard.

She says, "I am on the list of layoffs so you know that is not good news for me, but it still, as union president, and the vice president is also on the list, our role is to do the best we can to save as many jobs as we possibly can, whether ours are in that list or not."

Janssen says she's not even thinking about what she'll do if she is laid off. Right now she's focusing all her energy on finding alternative cuts. The union has until August 28th to make a counter proposal.

Union executives met Tuesday to brainstorm and they have two more meetings set this week. They're asking administrators for financial data, using their own research skills, and hoping to find a way not to lose any jobs.

"If we can come up with that, we will. But I don't perceive that at the moment," says Janssen.

She and other library staff are also worried about the community impact. "It's tough," says Janssen. "We form relationships with the patrons, the families that come in."

Library administrators are also proposing closing the West side Lewis Lemon library branch and cutting hours at others. The East State branch would be the only one open on Sundays.

"It's not a good idea," Ciarra Rodriguez says of the cuts. She just moved to Rockford she relies on the library for Internet access and as an outlet for her kids. Right now some of the deepest layoffs are in the children's' department and time is ticking for the union to make a change.

The library's financial woes are a combination of a decrease in tax revenues, grants and other revenue streams. Plus the city is planning to revoke an $800,000 subsidy that pays for library employee pensions.

Of the proposed 30 layoffs, 24 are union members, six are administrators and that's out of a total of 120 employees.
The Lewis Lemon branch may not have to close. The library is considering an offer of help from the school district and union members may push for an increase in the library's tax levee.