Sierra College and school district to keep paying for library

Sierra College and the Western Placer Unified School District (WPUSD) will still chip in for Lincoln's library expenses, even though hours have been reduced.That's according to the city of Lincoln's library director Darla Wegener. She said the expectation is "the school districts will honor the MOU (memo of understanding)."The library is jointly funded by the city, Sierra College and Western Placer Unified School District.Wegener could not say how much each entity pays for the library but said each pays a percentage of the General Fund-funded library portion."As the budget reduces, the amount they are expected to pay reduces proportionately," Wegener said. "According to the MOU, the contribution toward operations and staffing for the Twelve Bridges Library is 25 percent for Sierra College and 15 percent for WPUSD."Wegener said City Manager Jim Estep met Feb. 28 with Western Placer Unified School District Superintendent Scott Leaman and Sierra College President Leo Chavez about the library.Chavez was unavailable for comment but Sierra College's library dean Brian Haley said there would be "no change to the financial contribution because of the reduction."Haley did not know if Estep met with Sierra College representatives on the reduced hours."They sat down with us and looked at options, and they were options shared at the workshop," Leaman said, referring to the city's Feb. 16 budget workshop. "We did know (about the reduction) based on budget reductions spoke on at the works hop, and the final decision was up to the city." - Stephanie Dumm