Some Dallas residents are rallying to save their local public library after a City official signaled that its closure would save taxpayers $485,000.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, interim City Manager Kimberly Tolbert has been working to address a significant budget shortfall that necessitates cuts and savings across City operations. Back in May, she had said every City department has been asked to submit budgets at 6% less than the current fiscal year.
The City of Dallas adopted one of the biggest budgets in its history last September, totaling roughly $4.6 billion. The move was opposed by Mayor Eric Johnson and several Dallas City Council members.
Despite the trimming Tolbert directed City departments to do, she still appears to be angling to push through an even bigger budget next fiscal year, floating nearly $5 billion in expenditures, as previously reported by DX.
Nevertheless, here’s some of what Fox 4 KDFW reported on the efforts by residents in northeastern Dallas to keep their neighborhood library open:
The Skillman Southwestern Branch Library in Northeast Dallas is still on the chopping block after a brief discussion by the Dallas Quality of Life Committee.
A petition to save the library branch has more than 1,700 signatures.
But despite the community-led petition to try to save the Skillman Library, there was no discussion of any alternatives to closure at Monday’s Quality of Life Committee meeting.
In a memo to city council members last Friday, an assistant city manager says that the closure of the Skillman branch allows the library to offer expanded hours at its other locations.
