Web resource 2.1 - economic landscape

In Austin, Texas, they voted to close a library branch rather than raise taxes. In Tauranga, New Zealand the city councillors have asked their CEO to save 3.5 million dollars this year to keep rates increases to an 'acceptable' level. Not only do they want this substantial saving, they also want to maintain the same level of service. The amount to be saved is spread over all the council's operations, not just the libraries, but every department is expected to do its bit. I suggested that one way of saving money would be to not buy any new reference books for one year but my manager felt that it would be setting a dangerous precedent - 'you managed OK last year without buying any new books, so why do you need to buy books this year?"