The new south side library, called the Nexus Center, will open later this year with slightly fewer staff than initially anticipated, resulting in a dramatic 23 percent reduction in the Flagler County Public Library’s hours of operation from 52 to 40 hours per week and a significant reduction in staffing. Two days a week, all libraries will be closed. The Palm Coast branch will no longer be open on Mondays. On Sunday, it was closed.
The more stringent staffing and operation plan was approved by the Flagler County Commission today. A more comprehensive plan that would have allowed the Palm Coast branch to stay open six days a week instead of five and added six net new posts to staff both libraries (for a total of 24 plus a part-timer) was abandoned.
It is referred to as operational efficiency modifications by the county administration.
The commission’s limited commitment to the library system is reflected in the new plan, which somewhat dampens the anticipated joyous ribbon-cutting at the new library. For example, if the commission had been opening a firehouse or a sheriff’s substation, where staffing at full strength and maximum hours is never questioned, it would never have needed such a cobble job.
However, the county is receiving the second library that the Library Board of Trustees and former commissioners have been imagining for more than ten years. It will offer increased services in a building that can accommodate the expanding population in the south side of Bunnell and Palm Coast. Because the two libraries’ operating hours are spaced out so that there is never a day when neither is open, residents of Flagler County will have access to both libraries seven days a week.
On May 28, Commissioner Kim Carney addressed the county administration, “You want six new employees for the library?” It was a partial win. Ignore it. Ignore it. At the time, she had suggested firing five current employees, including Assistant County Administrator Holly Albanese, and sending them to the Nexus Center, but she had not indicated how many she would support.
Rather, commissioners decided to add three net new roles to the library staffing, including Albanese, who, after years as the library director, continued to oversee the library as an assistant administrator. The library will employ 21 people in total, including a part-time employee.
According to County Administrator Heidi Petito, the additional $178,000 that the county would have to pay for that option may be covered by the money the library receives from passport sales. Over 3,500 passports were processed by the library in 2024, and it made $170,000. Andy Dance, the chair of the commission, would prefer not to spend that money on staff at this time.
In order to guarantee that the Nexus Center has enough employees, I have cut the administration’s budget, which includes relocating Holly’s job back to the library, Petito stated. The Nexus Center will receive five employees from the Palm Coast branch. The Nexus Center will have 11 employees (or the equivalent of 11 full-time employees), including two staff members who were formerly worked at the temporary Bunnell branch at Marvin’s Garden. Ten and a part-time employee will work at Palm Coast. The Nexus Center’s grant money has requirements that require that library to have a minimum of eleven employees.
According to Carney, this is a clear illustration of why grants aren’t free. I wasn’t here again since in order to receive that funding, we had to commit to 11 personnel. Grants are not free, and I’m not criticizing anyone. “I want to see a very successful Nexus center,” she continued. I am confident that we can create a Palm Coast library that is a huge success.
Three possibilities for library funding were presented to the panel by the administration. Six net additional positions would have been added by one of the other two. Despite having a skeleton crew, a third would have cut Palm Coast’s operating hours even further, to just 37, and added no net new employees. Of the three options presented to commissioners today, Albanese’s earlier proposal to close the Palm Coast branch was not one of them. They chose what was intended to be a compromise.
Currently, the Palm Coast library is open six days a week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Palm Coast will only be open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. when the Nexus Center opens. It will be open Thursday and Friday from 10 to 5 and on Saturday from 9 to 5.
Speaking to the broader budget overview, Petito stated, “We’ve made some operational efficiency adjustments to ensure that our resources are aligned with the community’s highest priorities.” It’s actually not surprising that these developments have occurred. I am aware that we have spoken about a few of these in our individual sessions.
In addition to library funding, the $1.4 million budget cut from previous estimates includes a $300,000 reduction in firefighters’ overtime and the elimination of three positions from the county’s fleet-management division, which results in a $246,000 savings.
Additionally, it lowers the county’s administrative overhead by $113,000 and eliminates three of the six new positions that were originally planned to staff the Nexus Center, a new library on the south side, which would save $179,000. However, Flagler Beach will also lose the $106,000 that the county contributed for lifeguards.
