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Governor's plan would slash funds for libraries
(by Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor - June 27, 2009)
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On June 19, Gov. Ted Strickland proposed a $227.3 million cut in funding to public libraries in fiscal years 2010 and 2011. It is part of his plan to make up the $3.2 billion shortfall in the state budget, which must be balanced by June 30.
The proposed cuts represent a 30 percent reduction, which is in addition to an average of 20 percent in cuts to libraries this year due to decreased state tax revenue.
“Seventy percent of libraries in Ohio are funded 100 percent by the public library fund. We are one of them,” said Cathy Allen, director of Hurt-Battelle Memorial Library in West Jefferson.
“We are working on running the numbers now. It is very possible we’d have to close (if these cuts go through). At the best, we’d be open one or two days a week.”
Even before Strickland’s proposal, Hurt-Battelle was in cost-cutting mode. The library recently announced it is no longer open on Saturdays. Earlier this year, the library board made plans to go to the taxpayers with a levy request in November.
“When you’re looking at 70 percent of libraries in the state in the same situation, you have to ask how the state could afford to lose all these libraries?” Allen said.
Heidi Fletcher, director of Mount Sterling Public Library, said her library board would face difficult decisions should the cuts go through. Like Hurt-Battelle, all of Mount Sterling’s funding comes from the state.
“Fifty percent of what we were getting in 2008 doesn’t leave a lot for us to work with,” said Fletcher. “The board would have to decide what would need to be done to keep our doors open and at what cost to patron services.”
Last year, Mount Sterling’s board cut employee hours and expenses by $20,000 between February and December. That included closing on Wednesdays.
The libraries in London and Plain City are in a slightly different position. Approximately 30 percent of their operating budgets are funded by local tax levies. The rest comes from the state.
“We really are one of the lucky ones,” said Chris Long, director at Plain City Public Library. “We’re still looking at tough decisions, but at least we have local support. There’s no way we can live on it, but it’s a lot more than others have.”
Plain City voters passed their first-ever library levy in November 2007. It’s keeping the library open and materials on the shelves, Long said, but all other expenditures are on hold.
Thanks to a levy first passed in 1997 and renewed twice since then, London Public Library has been able to absorb the recent reductions in state funding without cutting hours, said Director Gary Branson.
“If the governor’s proposal goes through, we are not going to be so lucky anymore. It would have a large impact on our operations,” he said. “Our operating budget was about $900,000 this year. It would go to $650,000.”
The London Library board had already taken $120,000 out of its budget at its June meeting in anticipation of the 20 percent in state cuts expected this year. The plan is to spend $30,000 less on materials and put remodeling and system upgrades on the back burner, Branson said.
“Usually, we make small adjustments to the budget at the end of the (calendar) year. These are significant budget adjustments mid-year, and now we may be doing it twice,” he said. “We still have a couple of line items that could be cut, but next will be salaries.”
Chris Long in Plain City argues that further cuts to libraries just hurts the overall economic recovery process.
“Communities are trying to get through a recovery of their own. Closing their libraries doesn’t help,” she said. “Libraries are one of those few things that enhance a community’s quality of life—where you can walk in free of charge and get a book or movie, look for jobs, whatever you need to do.”
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