RAPID CITY, SD — On Tuesday the Pennington County Planning Commission ended its current contract with the Rapid City Public Library, and following an allocation of only $475,000 dollars previously is looking to negotiate a new contract with the library which would dramatically slash funding.
The new proposed funding of $81,000 (around 1/6th of the fund) comes as a staggering austerity measure by the county which according to the library could lead to a significant loss of staffing and service, potentially even affecting the capacity of the library to operate. “It was so unexpected,” said Emily Tupa, Board Chair for the Rapid City Public Library, “It was so heartbreaking, we found out via the newspaper, and I think we’re all kind of spiraling a bit. I really want to walk a fine line where I don’t want to be like the sky is falling, but, you know, unless something changes, it will be felt by not just our county residents, but by people in the city. all of us will suffer from a cut like this”.
Tupa hopes for a new development which could offset this cut, stating that the Library is currently hoping for emergency funding by the County Commission or aid from the City Council, but says the current outlook seems bleak overall, potentially leading to a loss of three or more full time positions, the seed library, Journey Museum and Custer State Park passes, loss of the Libby app which allows cardholders to virtually check out books, dues for non-Rapid City residents, closure of the library and its many services on Sunday, and potentially the loss of other services.
This sentiment does not come exclusively from the Library however. At the meeting, Commissioner Ron Rossknecht stated his regret for previously favoring budget allocations which would compel this cut in funding. “I think there should have been more discussion between the commissioners so we really understood what we were doing. I felt that was not part of the dialogue,” said Rossknecht. He notes that after receiving comments from the public, ”the one that we did was a little radical,” and repeating his public statement that “I had a hard time sleeping,” afterwards, directly referring to the decision as a mistake on his part. He is currently wanting to seek options to move forward and seek an adjustment to these numbers.
However during this time of negotiation Tupa encourages the public to make their voices heard in support of the library, and hopes that more focus can be put on the variety of public services the library offers. “There’s just so much that is really there in our community for people to take advantage of, and so that’s something I really evangelize on for lack of a better word. You have no idea all the stuff that’s available to you at the library”.