4/14 Red Bank Council to Appoint New Library Board

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By John Burton
RED BANK — The Borough Council has scheduled a special meeting on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to appoint an almost all-new slate of members to the Red Bank Public Library Board of Trustees, according to the announcement from the borough clerk’s office.
The council’s action is in response to the decision by the majority of the library board on Saturday to resign. The board and the borough officials have been at odds the last few weeks over the library’s latest budget, which called for layoffs of three full-time employees and part-timers. The full-time workers are union members and covered under the borough’s collective bargaining agreement.
The layoffs, library board members said, along with the reduction of library operating hours, were precipitated by the need to reign in personnel costs that were taking up almost the entirety of the library’s annual budget. Without the fixes, library officials said the facility may have to shutter its doors later this year.
The borough council at last Wednesday’s meeting moved to reinstate two of the library full-time employees and offered an alternative budget.
The library board traditionally has 10 members and serves without compensation. The members are selected by the mayor with the approval of the borough council.