Library IT funds missing from mayor’s budget

The days of searching for a book using card catalogs and the Dewey Decimal System became obsolete at least a decade ago as libraries were computerized and digitized. This is one reason employees and supporters of the metro area’s 19 branches are concerned that the entire information technology (IT) budget — $400,000 — has been omitted from Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller’s proposed city budget.

The $1.4 billion budget for fiscal year 2025, which begins July 1, includes $16.4 million for the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Library System and its 146 employees — part of the $51.4 million Arts & Culture Department budget.

Kathleen Raskob said the lack of IT funds wouldn’t just affect internet access and the use of computers and printers for library patrons, but could also result in reduced hours and fewer staff. Raskob, the vice president of the nonprofit Albuquerque Public Library Foundation, said she learned about the budget issue from library employees at a recent foundation meeting. She alerted city councilors of the situation at an April 15 City Council meeting during the public comment period.

“I wanted to get it out there as soon as I could and put a bug in the City Council’s ear,” Raskob told City Desk ABQ.

She said Monday that she hasn’t heard from city officials or city councilors yet. 

The lack of an IT budget also landed on the radar of the Albuquerque and Bernalillo County Library Advisory Board, which posted an alert on its website urging the public to contact city councilors and the Mayor’s Office. The board is appointed by city and county leaders to be advocates for the library system. 

The mayor’s proposed budget and its one-year objectives will be the focus of the City Council’s first “Committee-of-the-Whole” meeting May 2.

Recurring issue

Raskob said the foundation — which has raised funds for the library system since 2013 — has had to alert city leaders of the IT budget omission before. 

Previously, the IT budget was funded through library bonds, she said, and funding wasn’t an issue.

“Then for some reason IT was taken out of bonds and put into the operational budget,” Raskob said. “It was put into a nonrecurring budget item instead of recurring. I believe it was a mistake.”

The advisory board also wants the IT budget to be included as a recurring fund.

Meanwhile, the director of Arts & Culture, Shelle Sanchez, said in a statement Tuesday to City Desk ABQ that she expects the city to take a closer look into her department’s budget this week.

“For the past five years, funding to modernize information technology in our public libraries was included in the budget as nonrecurring funds,” Sanchez said. “There is an accounting question about this funding that the finance department is researching as part of the budget process, and the city will make sure our libraries are fully funded.”