Public library faces state funding cuts; may have to close

by DALE SHEFFIELD

Enterprise reporter

Herrick Memorial Library may be forced to close its doors if the drastic cuts to the state budget proposed by Governor Ted Strickland are approved. Strickland plans to slash state funding for public libraries in an attempt to fill a $3.2 billion gap in the state budget.

"It's going to be devastating," said library director Janet Hollingsworth. "It's very possible we would have to close."

The library is already operating on a tight budget after learning in January that their portion of the public library fund distribution would be decreased because of state revenue drops. According to the Ohio Library Council, this cut would mean a loss of about $75,000 for the 2009 calendar year. If Strickland's budget is approved, the library would face an additional loss of nearly $50,000, according to the OLC.

"(Strickland's budget) will go through. It's a done deal," Hollingsworth said last week. "I'm not a pessimist, I'm just trying to be realistic."

Even if the library is able to survive the deep gashes to the budget, cuts in staff, service, and hours would be necessary, Hollingsworth said, and that will impact a community that has come to rely on the library more than ever as the local economy becomes increasingly unstable.

The library has seen an increase in service use across the board. Circulation jumped from 82,000 in 2007 to more than 84,000 in 2008. Nearly 300 additional people signed up for library cards in 2008.

Internet use at the library's five terminals has grown steadily since 2007 and showed an eight percent increase in May. Hollingsworth explained that Job and Family Services sends people to local libraries to apply for unemployment and conduct job searches. Many of these people lack even basic computer abilities and rely on classes offered by library staff to improve their skills.

Program attendance skyrocketed from 7,200 in 2007 to 9,200 in 2008. The library is mandated by the state to offer programs that teach children to read before entering kindergarten.

Hollingsworth also worries the budget cuts would cause a breakdown in the statewide library networking system, which provides Internet access and allows interlibrary loans of library materials.

"It's not going to be a trickle-down, it will be an avalanche," she said. "This could put us back in the library dark ages."

In addition to the state funds, the library also relies on a .77 mil operating levy that provides about $175,000 annually and expires in 2012. About 30 percent of Ohio's public libraries have local property tax levies that supplement the state's funding.

The state funding and the levy monies are allocated in the budget as follows: 65 percent for salaries and benefits, 15 percent for contracted services (including utilities), 12 percent for library materials, four percent for the building and repair fund, two percent for supplies, one percent for equipment and computers, and one percent for dues. The library employees 14 staff members, four who are full-time employees.

"We will have to consider what is most essential," Hollingsworth said. "I may have to let staff go. And there could be no Internet, no storytime, no new books. It's even possible we would have to close."