RUMFORD — Thanks to an accounting error last year, the Public Library will once again be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays starting Nov. 19.

The library page position was also restored, library Trustee Linda Macgregor said Tuesday afternoon. It is a paid internship/apprenticeship that trains a student from RSU 10’s Mountain Valley High School in library science.

“We’re really thrilled getting Saturdays back and it’s really important to be able to restore the library page,” Macgregor said.

Budget cuts last year and this year severely reduced staffing hours, forcing library Director Luke Sorensen to close the library on Saturdays.

That is, until this week when it was learned that $11,205.93 was incorrectly taken from the library’s operating budget to pay accrued sick and vacation time for two longstanding employees who retired last year, Town Manager Carlo Puiia and Sorensen said Tuesday afternoon.

“It was a contingency reimbursement from retiring employees,” Puiia said of the discovery.

He said the town annually establishes what is owed for any outstanding sick or vacation time and that is placed in a contingency fund to cover it.

“It’s a reserve basically, so when that time comes, the money should have come out of that fund instead of the operating budget,” he said. “So basically, it was a reimbursement to that operating budget.”

“What happened is when we had two longtime employees retire last year — the librarian and the children’s librarian — of course, they drew their accumulated sick time and any vacation time, and it should have come from the accrued account and instead it was drawn from the operational account,” Puiia said.

He attributed the mistake to a change of leadership from Library Director Karl Aromaa to Sorensen and unfamiliarity with Rumford’s accounting practice.

“Again, with a change of leadership, it was unknown that they were supposed to draw those funds from the reserve account and not from the operational account,” Puiia said.

“The two retiring individuals had a considerable amount of sick time accumulating and vacation time, so it was enough to pay for a number of Saturdays to be open.”

Sorensen said the money will allow him to keep the library open on Saturdays until summer 2012.

So, as of this Saturday, Rumford Public Library hours will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays and Saturdays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays; and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursdays.

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