Following a protest by about 90 citizens outside the Evanston Civic Center Saturday, City Council voted against cutting programs that would have saved the city more than a half a million dollars in the face of its nearly $4 million budget deficit.

Chanting “save the children,” protesters ranging from community leaders to small children brandished signs to demonstrate against plans to close the north and south branches of the Evanston Public Library and the complete elimination of the Summer Youth Employment Program.

After marching into the council chambers, the crowd mostly dispersed after the council voted at the budget workshop to strike both cuts within five minutes.

“The reason we removed (these cuts) is because we had huge amounts of people here and we knew we weren’t going to cut them anyway,” said Ald. Stephen Engelman (7th).

The council is scheduled to vote on a final budget by the end of February.

Evanston resident Megan Boyle said she joined the protest to support the branch libraries, even though the council unofficially voted last week not to cut them.

“I’m afraid that if I didn’t come, the council would think I was apathetic,” Boyle said. “This is an important issue, and community support can really make a difference.”

In addition to these high-profile issues, the council voted not to cut police liaison officers in middle schools and a full-time animal control warden. Saving these four programs adds $603,600 that the council must find to balance the city’s budget.

But following the decision to keep three police school liaison officers in the middle schools, aldermen voiced concern about the budget process. Some objected that the council was moving too quickly in saving the programs.

“We will have nothing left if we look at this one by one and not as a whole,” Engelman said. He urged the council to make their opinions known but reserve motions until later.

But Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) said these were all important, interconnected issues that required decisions. She was concerned that reducing the three liaison officers would lower the total police force by three officers.

“What good are branch libraries if people are getting bopped on the head and their purses stolen on the way there?” Rainey asked.

The retention of the liaison officers was not popular with all members of the community, and some spoke out after the decision.

“Police have no place in a school; it is not a penitentiary,” said Bennett Johnson, president of the Evanston branch of the NAACP.

Others said the officers would serve the community better patrolling the streets.

“You need to listen and re-think because a lot of people don’t want them (in schools),” said resident and one-time aldermanic candidate Betty Ester.

Despite the criticism, aldermen said they thought citizen comment was key to this year’s budget, noting both the budget committee meetings that drew citizens and the protests outside.

“Never before in the history of Evanston had there been more public participation in the budget process,” Rainey said.

While aldermen did not suggest any alternatives to the programs they chose not to cut, many said they were confident the council would be able to balance the budget despite the more than $600,000 difference.

“I don’t know where (the money) is going to come from, but I’m sure we’re going to find it,” said Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th).