Nutter says ruling risks shorter hours at all libraries

All city libraries will face cuts in their hours of operation unless a judge reconsiders an order forbidding the closing of 11 branches, Mayor Nutter said yesterday.

Staff members at the libraries that Nutter planned to close this year had already been laid off or transferred when the judge ruled that the branches must stay open. That order is forcing the city to operate with fewer employees and causing the city to bleed money by the day, Nutter said.

Common Pleas Court Judge Idee Fox is expected to issue a final, written ruling tomorrow. Before then, Nutter said, he plans to give her a more complete picture of the problem.

"I felt compelled that we take more time to present the judge with more detailed information about the challenge that it will be to operate all libraries," Nutter said. "It will result in potentially more people being laid off and hours disrupted at every library in the city each week."

The city's librarians, trustees, and other community members have been in an uproar since November, when Nutter announced plans to shut down the 11 libraries as part of an effort to close a $1 billion gap in the city budget. Fox, citing a 20-year-old ordinance, ruled last week that Nutter needed City Council approval or a court order to implement his plan. Nutter called the ruling an assault on the City Charter's strong-mayor form of government and said he would appeal.

Yesterday, he emphasized that he would rather not close libraries or cut their hours. But the economy has worsened since the decision was announced, and the library closurings would save $8 million a year. "We had no good choices," Nutter said. "They were all bad choices, and we tried to do our best to choose what would have the least damaging impact to the city as a whole."

Nutter is also looking into developing public-private partnerships that could maintain community services in the 11 branches. Corporate sponsors and universities could create what Nutter called "knowledge centers" where the libraries are. The city could offer the buildings essentially rent-free, and the centers could provide much of what residents come to depend on from libraries, such as Internet access and a safe place for children after school. "Sometimes you have to take a challenge as an opportunity to create something better," Nutter said.

He has also started rebuilding his relationships with those who oppose his plan. He talked with library advocates and trustees yesterday about the possible effects of Fox's decision.

Nutter struck a conciliatory tone, said some of the approximately 75 people who had attended the meeting. He apologized for not having kept them informed about what was happening, and said he would seek more input from them in the future. "Ultimately, everyone wants to save the system and keep all branches intact," said Karen D. Lash, president of the Friends of Holmesburg Library, one of the targeted branches. "And we know the mayor does, as well."

Nutter also said he knew he needed to regain their trust. For some library supporters, that may be much easier said than done, especially since Nutter hasn't changed his mind about closing the 11 branches.

"At the end of the day, he still wants the judge to rule that he's the mayor and it's his call," said Susan Odessey, president of the Friends of the Welsh Road Library.

But Odessey also acknowledged: "I certainly wouldn't want to be in his position of solving this tremendous deficit. I think he's feeling like he doesn't have a choice."