The Riverside City Council voted on Feb. 10 to increase funding for library materials and the Riverside School of the Arts by $50,000 each this year as part of several supplemental appropriations from the city’s general fund, totaling just over $4 million.
Members of the council and public alike showed support for the funding boost. “Two-hundred-some thousand people like me who have a library card will be appreciative of continuing investment in materials available to the library,” said Tom Evans, Riverside resident and member of the Board of Library Trustees.
“I, too, am glad to see that we’re putting some money into library resources and the school for the arts,” echoed Councilman Mike Gardner.
The Riverside School of Arts provides free and low-cost arts classes to children across the city, and Riverside’s eight public libraries offer story times, crafts and other afterschool programs for the community.
