Rahway library board approves summer staffing boost, pushes back on programming cut
The board voted to expand hours for part-time employees this summer after pushing back on a proposal to fund the move by cutting the library’s programming budget.
Cookies and cupcakes with the Rahway Public Library logo were among the treats served during the library’s October 2025 open house, which drew more than 600 visitors. (The Central Jerseyan)
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Chris Howell | June 24, 2026
The Rahway Public Library Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to expand hours for part-time staff this summer, but only after rejecting a proposal that would have drawn the money from the library’s expanded programming budget.
Director Ian Sloat asked the board to approve a plan that would allow each of the library’s seven part-time employees to work one additional four-hour shift per week for nine weeks, from July 6 through Sept. 5. The total cost is roughly $6,675.
The extra coverage, Sloat said, would free full-time staff to focus on organizing and running programs rather than desk coverage. He estimated one staff member had spent about five hours coordinating a single concert held the night before.
But when Sloat proposed pulling that money from the library’s programming budget, board President Shakira Johnson objected.
“I’m going to repeat back what I think I heard: you want to reduce the programming budget because it’s taking too much of the staff’s time. Is that what you said?”
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Johnson asked. The board had increased the programming budget substantially this year, from $12,000 in 2025 to $60,000. Through the end of May, the library had spent about $11,000 of that allocation.
Johnson said the programs are drawing strong attendance and positive community feedback. “We have had that budget in place for three months,” she added. “We’ve experienced nothing but positivity, and three months into it, here we are going to cut it?”
Johnson said the argument that programs were taking too long to coordinate was not a reason to reduce the budget that made them possible, and suggested the director find the required funding elsewhere.
Treasurer Derron Palmer and Vice President Tom O’Reilly both backed keeping the programming budget intact. O’Reilly said the additional part-time hours could free up staff without sacrificing any programming potential. “I don’t want to take the possibility of anything away,” he said.
Sloat ultimately agreed to draw from other budget lines rather than programming. The board approved the additional summer hours.
The Rahway Public Library main entrance. (The Central Jerseyan)
The meeting also surfaced a breakdown in communication between Johnson and Sloat over the library’s heating and cooling system. After Sloat reported that the library had completed the installation of a new HVAC control system, Johnson told the board she had sent multiple emails requesting a meeting to discuss the system and never heard back from Sloat.
“I never received a response from you,” Johnson said. “I followed up with two emails, and I didn’t get a response.”
Sloat apologized and said he had wanted to include the facilities manager, who he said had been on vacation for more than two weeks. He committed to scheduling a meeting.
The board also spent time on Tuesday discussing how the library presents its finances to the public, after budget documents prepared for the meeting showed what appeared to be deeply negative spending percentages.
Sloat said the distortion was driven largely by a roughly $141,000 pension payment made in the first quarter. The lump sum, when compared to the monthly budget allocation, makes the personnel line appear dramatically overspent. Officials said the same dynamic affects the insurance budget, which is paid annually.
The underlying picture is strong, Sloat said. Through May 31, the library had taken in about $808,000 of its roughly $1.9 million annual budget, about 42% after five months, which Sloat described as on track. Total expenses through the same period were about $710,000, leaving more than $97,000 unspent. Personnel costs account for the largest share of spending, at about $602,000, with wages alone totaling roughly $417,000.
Palmer offered to work with Sloat to fix the formatting errors in the Excel documents, and the board agreed to present two versions of the financial report from now on.
Editor’s note: The Central Jerseyan is free to read and supported by advertising. If you value this kind of local reporting and want to help sustain it, you can become a citizen supporter on Patreon. Your contribution helps fund continued coverage of local government, schools, and community issues.