Mayor R.T. Rybak responded to citizens today who had written, called and emailed him about the recent decision on funding of libraries. buzz.mn got a copy of that email.

Here's what the mayor wrote:

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Knowing that you care about our city’s libraries, I wanted to report on
action the City took this week to support our libraries and what you can
expect to see over the coming months on this issue:

* Yesterday the City of Minneapolis approved $24 million for our city
libraries, along with an additional $1.2 million of one-time bridge
funding to help keep more city libraries open for longer hours than they
are today. This additional funding responded to the Library Board’s
request for $100,000 more than my initial $1.1 million proposal
requested.

* Our decision to provide an additional $1.2 million of city money gives
the Library Board more resources along with more flexibility to make good
decisions. Along with additional funding, we eliminated budget language
that presumed libraries must be closed and we removed restrictions on how
funding could be spent, leaving that to the discretion of the Library
Board.

The additional funding the City provided to libraries is part of a series
of actions we will take to address the deep challenges facing our library
system. As Mayor, I will continue to play a large role to keep us focused
on real, long-term solutions for our libraries and I will lead whatever
discussions are necessary to make sure our libraries are strong and stable
far into the future.

The libraries need money right now and we are giving it to them, but we
must not abandon our commitment to finding a long-term solution for our
libraries. We need to be honest about library finances and continue to ask
the tough questions because there is no simple solution to the deep,
structural challenges facing our libraries.

In the next few months we will be taking a number of actions:
- Lobbying the legislature to restore the cuts in local government aid
that are at the core of this problem.
- Working with the Library Board’s Advisory Committee addressing
long-term solutions.
- Working with the Hennepin County task force examining the role Hennepin
County can play in funding and governing city libraries.
- Exploring structural library governance issues, including whether the
libraries should become a city department.

The library votes taken yesterday were part of our annual city budget.
With our budget we focused on public safety, our largest challenge, and we
took significant steps to help our libraries. We can aggressively address
both of these challenges without playing them off each other as long as we
continue to set clear goals and long-term priorities.

Libraries are critical to our community and provide an essential service
to Minneapolis residents and visitors. The current situation – with some
libraries open only three days a week – is not worthy of a great city. We
need to fix this and we will.

Again, thank you for your continued interest in our libraries. I am
actively working on the many facets of this issue and I welcome your
ongoing participation as we move forward. I look forward to your thoughts
on each of those points and strongly urge you to help us convince
legislators of the need for restored local government aid. Together, we
can and we will build the world-class library system that Minneapolis
deserves.

R.T. Rybak