PROVIDENCE — Five library branches would close by July but the downtown flagship and four other branches would remain open under a plan approved by the Providence Public Library Board of Trustees yesterday.

The plan now goes before the City Council for approval and, under an agreement reached last month, the city must make one of four decisions by June 30, which is the end of the fiscal year: accept the library’s plan; seek to take over the branch libraries itself; assign their stewardship to another entity; or choose to maintain the current library system intact for one year and cover any deficits incurred.

The system, which is run by a private, nonprofit organization, assisted by payments from the city and the state, is anticipating a $1.4-million deficit this fiscal year and projecting a $2-million shortfall in the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Mayor David N. Cicilline’s administration supports the plan, but with the caveat that the five branches slated for closing –– Fox Point, Smith Hill, Olneyville, Wanskuck and Washington Park –– return to the city’s possession to be run as neighborhood learning centers for after-school activities, public computer access and meeting space, according to Kas DeCarvalho, the city’s representative on the library board.

The library has begun talks with the city to make that happen.

Library board member Robert Taylor said yesterday that the library has told the city it is willing to donate the branch buildings and their contents (books, computers, furnishings) to the city. Some library staff would assist with the transition to city ownership, he said. The branches that would remain open are Mount Pleasant, South Providence, Rochambeau and Knight Memorial, in Elmwood.

But library advocates and Mark McKenney, Governor Carcieri’s representative on the board, opposed the plan, which was approved by a 10-to-1 vote.

Marcus Mitchell, a member of the board of the Friends of the Rochambeau Branch Library, said that a coalition of community organizations, including his organization, have formulated a budget and organizational plan to take over and run the nine library branches with assistance from the city under a newly formed nonprofit organization, Providence Community Libraries.

“The board’s plan is unacceptable,” he said. “The library is asking the city for funding to provide library services when their plan proposes a severe reduction in service that will adversely affect the community.”

Mitchell said that the organization will submit its counterproposal to the city in the coming weeks.

The plan to shutter five library branches was one of two options presented yesterday by the board of trustees’ sustainability committee, which was to develop a plan for a library system that could be operated for the foreseeable future with the funds available to the nonprofit organization.

By keeping the heavily used central library open, the library system could preserve a large percentage of its users, according to Taylor, chairman of the sustainability committee.

The board also considered a plan that would have closed the central library and kept all nine neighborhood branches open.

The major drawbacks to that proposal are that it would not provide the same levels of services and would not result in a significant increase in operating hours at the smaller branches, which currently are open 30 hours a week. Under that plan, the downtown library would house administrative, maintenance and information technology staff until the library decided to sell the building.

“The closing of the central library represents a net loss to the city as a whole,” said Taylor. “There is a misconception that when we talk about the central branch, we are talking about a grand old building that is not being used.”

Neither of the two alternatives discussed yesterday, however, do what the board had hoped. James Nagle, of the board’s finance committee, said that the plans do not ensure that the library would not fall back into deficit three years down the line; in fact, that scenario is highly likely, given the current economy.

At yesterday’s meeting, the board also voted unanimously to freeze employee pension benefits effective next June 30.

The move means that the future pensions of any of the library’s current 110 employees will be based on their age, salary and longevity as of that date.The $5.5-million library pension system is $2 million underfunded, meaning it is short that amount to cover all its liabilities, and under federal law passed in 2007, privately held pension systems must be fully funded.

pmarcelo@projo.com