Questions about whether Washoe County libraries will have to cut hours, close branches or freeze funds for books and technology remain unresolved after its director resigned this month and the system’s budget remains unsettled just weeks out from the new fiscal year.

Washoe County commissioners are considering a recommended library system budget of $18.4 million for fiscal year 2026 — unchanged from the current fiscal year. 

The system has a budget hole after voters in 2024 failed to pass WC-1, a ballot question that would have extended a 30-year-old property tax that provided millions of dollars to the library system. To offset the expiring funds, commissioners were considering adding an additional $1.3 million to the library budget from county general funds.

However, library board Chair Ann Silver urged the commissioners last week to hold off so the trustees can have a “comprehensive understanding” of the budget, including trends on library utilization, hours and other operational aspects. Some commissioners questioned whether the system — which has 12 branches and a workforce of more than 100 — needed all the money they were requesting.

The uncertainty was compounded by the surprise resignation of library Director Jeff Scott last week.

Silver said in an interview that the Library Board of Trustees, who are appointed by the county commission and are charged with oversight of library policies and goals including the hiring of the system director, are facing tough choices. She said the county commission has to weigh its own budget, the will of the voters, and the “strong desire” to maintain library operations. 

Surprise resignation

The library board was set to discuss a largely negative performance evaluation of Scott last week when Silver announced that he had voluntarily resigned. 

Parts of the crowd groaned, while someone asked “can we celebrate now?”

A polarizing figure for his support of initiatives such as Drag Story Hour (some of Wednesday’s attendees were carrying signs that said “Fire Scott” and “Save Washoe County”) Scott had also been blamed by some trustees and members of the public for the narrow failure in November of the WC-1 ballot question.

In his performance evaluation, the trustees cumulatively rated him as “minimally effective.” In unattributed comments, two trustees wrote that they felt he was “annoyed” with the board while another said he became “too overly political” by allowing Drag Story Hour to continue (the events were canceled last July). 

Scott only received one positive comment: “He's engaged and cooperated with other organizations and has sought out grants and funds to supplement the library budget.”

One trustee noted Scott needed to expand community outreach, while another attributed WC-1’s failure to Scott’s “poor planning and lack of effort” to maintain good relationships with Washoe County voters. 

Silver said she believes a variety of factors contributed to WC-1’s failure. 

“There were people who misread or didn't understand the way the initiative was written,” she said. “I think there were many people who voted against it because it had the word tax in it. And I think there were in equal measure a number of people who thought there's been enough drama surrounding the libraries.” 

However, many attendees came to Wednesday’s meeting to support Scott — one public commenter, Ilya Arbatman, said that some voters were only aware of the question because Scott took the time to explain what it would do for the community. 

If passed, supporters said libraries in Washoe County would have been funded for an additional 30 years. The county will continue collecting property taxes that were previously earmarked for libraries, but now those taxes will be allocated to wherever the county commission sees fit. 

Valerie Wade, another public commenter, noted that not only does the Washoe County Library Board have a vacant director position, but that funding is up in the air.

“You now have an organization with no director at a time when funding is moving to a low not seen in 30-plus years,” Wade said. “So what's next? How are you going to replace the director?”

What’s next for library funding

Silver will be calling a special meeting for May 14 to discuss the budget and to go over a contingency plan with acting director Stacy Mckenzie. The following meeting on May 21 will allow the trustees to finalize their requested budget and submit it to the county commission.

During the April 22 meeting, the commissioners were informed the library budget proposal will not be ready by a mandatory May 20 deadline and they were presented with a tentative proposal to cut the allocation of $1.3 million.  

To offset the expiring library property tax earmark, Washoe commissioners were considering allocating an additional $1.3 million to the library budget on top of what it has historically allocated to the system. 

The library system relies on these funds, and with the Trump administration slashing the Institute of Museum and Library Services last month, libraries across the country are scrambling to figure out how they will continue to fund services such as meeting spaces, bookmobiles, book kiosks, conference room upgrades and more. 

County commissioners Michael Clark, Clara Andriola and Alexis Hill expressed concerns over giving additional money to the library system. Clark said voters made their preferences clear and he would not be supporting the budget presented at the meeting. 

Andriola said she doesn’t feel comfortable allocating the $1.3 million to the library until the board of trustees approves the budget and concludes that they do need additional funding. Hill said she believes the library system may not need the $1.3 million because the system is in a hiring freeze for 11 vacant positions, therefore that money may not need to be spent.

As of now, funding is still up in the air and commissioners are respecting Silver’s wishes to give the trustees time to understand the budget. The next fiscal year starts June 1. 

Library advocates, on the other hand, are criticizing the trustees for not understanding the budget despite discussing it throughout multiple past meetings.

“I urge you not [to] take a backseat for the next six months until the library board of trustees who … demonstrated a fundamental lack of understanding of how the budget process works,” Freedom to Read organizer Naseem Jamnia told the commissioners.

Silver, on the other hand, said the trustees sat through several meetings where Scott went line by line through the budget and claimed many items presented were under county control and not theirs, making it difficult for the board to distinguish what they could actually do.

“It wasn't whether we had ample time to look at the numbers, or that we're not competent to understand budgets,” Silver said. “The collective professional experience on the board is quite significant. I don't think it's a matter of whether we were given the budget. We didn't get our questions answered, nor did we have contingency plans in light of WC-1.”