SUNBURY — Valley libraries may buy fewer books, stop programs and reduce hours as they face the 20.1 percent funding cut in the state budget signed last Friday.
But library directors in Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties said they were prepared for funding cuts and will not have to furlough workers.
“We’re not overstaffed,” said Gail Broome, director of the Degenstein Community Library in Sunbury. “In fact, we’re lean here. No doubt the cuts will mean a cutback in book acquisitions. We are thinking that we might have to charge people from other counties who don’t work in Northumberland, who use our library.”
Broome said she needed more details about the budget before she could comment on what other programs might be halted.
She also said she had been preparing for much larger budget cuts.
“One early Senate plan had library budgets cut by up to 50 percent,” she said. “So, while a 20 percent cut is not good, it’s a lot better than a 50 percent cut.”
Two other directors, Tracy Carey, of the Public Library for Union County, near Lewisburg, and Pamela Ross, of Snyder County Libraries, also expected larger cuts.
“I was planning for a 30 to 40 percent cut,” Ross said. “I was surprised when it turned out to be only 20.1 percent. We won’t have to lay anyone off because someone left our staff and we are replacing him with a part-time employee, with no health benefits. Had we not lost that person, we’d likely have had to lay off someone.”
Projects such as the children’s summer reading program likely will be cut, Ross said. The collections budget will suffer as well.
“We’re trying to make cuts in our services as slight as we can,” she said.
Ross said she is terribly worried about the 2011 budget.
“If state revenues don’t come in as projected,” she said, “next year’s budgets could be cut even more, to libraries and everyone else. For that reason alone, we’re putting a whole lot more emphasis this fiscal year on fundraising.”
Carey said she is reviewing services at the Public Library for Union County, considering which may have to be cut and what services have the greatest affect on the greatest number of people.
“Those we’ll try to keep,” Carey said, although she offered no specific suggestions. “We are also doing what we can to keep staff.”
Nonfixed expenditures, like travel, will be reduced, she said.
“It’s possible that a lot of our holiday days off will be longer. For example, the library normally closes on Thanksgiving Thursday, but opens on Friday. Now, we may have to close Thursday through Sunday.”
That decision has not been made by the library board, Carey said.
“We are fortunate to have savings in our account, so we are in a good spot,” she said. “We are, however, thinking of creative ways not to have to sacrifice our services.”
Carey said she is waiting to see the budget and funding figures before she and the board decide what further reduction in services might be necessary.
News
Related Photos
-
Matthew iesis / The Daily Item
Discussion
Public libraries in the Valley feel the pinch
- News
-
-
Jerry Sandusky argues for local jurors, suggests delay
HARRISBURG — Jerry Sandusky wants jurors in his child sex-abuse trial to be chosen from the community where he lives and is suggesting a trial delay may be the best way to address the intense publicity generated by the case.
-
State House enters second day of debate on gas drilling bill
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's House of Representatives is beginning its second day of debate on a bill to impose a fee on natural-gas drilling in Pennsylvania and toughen regulations over the booming industry.
-
Cases involving gas station drug sales advance to Montour County Court
DANVILLE – Three people charged with selling heroin and Oxycotin tablets during two separate transactions at a convenience store lot Jan. 2 will face court action.
-
Danville school options aired with borough council
DANVILLE — After borough officials pledged to work with school officials toward a decision on the flood-damaged middle school, council members voted not to give or sell any farmland it owns. The purpose of the unanimous action by the council Tuesday night was so the district knows that rumored option to move the school won’t happen. The borough owns a farm across from the Danville Primary School.
-
Five watershed projects receive $873,000 in state funding
NORTHUMBERLAND -- Five Valley watershed projects will get nearly $873,000 from the state Department of Environmental Protection, which announced funding for 73 projects to improve watersheds, stormwater runoff, acid mine drainage and educational programs, among other environmental efforts.
-
Dispute turns into gun threat, troopers say
After an argument in which his wife threatened divorce, William Warren Woolsey, 36, grabbed a .22-caliber rifle and told her to meet him in the bedroom, saying he would kill himself, state police at Milton said.
-
Mom allegedly beat toddlers with brush
MIFFLINBURG -- A 22-year-old Mifflinburg mother has been charged with beating her two toddlers with a hairbrush until they bled from abrasions all over their faces and bodies, state police at Milton said. The abuse came to light when Brittany Morgan Sullivan's parents came home and found the wounds on their grandchildren, according to police.
-
Commissioners give disabled Sunburian a chance
SUNBURY -- A 22-year-old disabled man asked the Northumberland County commissioners a life-changing question last week. "Can I have a job?" Giuseppe Bua, of Sunbury, was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a genetic disorder in which bones break easily. Sometimes the bones break for no known reason. The disorder also can cause weak muscles, brittle teeth, a curved spine and hearing loss.
-
Trucking firm to add 25 drivers
MILTON -- The president of Watsontown Trucking Co. said Tuesday that his firm will be hiring 25 truck drivers in addition to several diesel technician and management positions, all due to expansion. President Steve Patton said the company, which has been in the Milton Industrial Park since 2004, bought 14 additional acres in the park, adding 10,000 square feet of office space and maintenance facilities. Construction on the new space, he said, will begin shortly and is targeted to be completed by June.
-
Mayor wants trucks to help fund roads
SUNBURY -- Mayor David Persing is frustrated with truck traffic entering the former Celotex site on North Front Street, and he wants to do something about it. Charge an impact fee. Gas companies have paid millions to repair roads damaged by trucks in the Marcellus shale region, and Persing wants to levy a fee to compensate the city for damage to roads caused by trucks hauling drilling waste through the city. About $25 per truck per visit, he said.
-
18-year-old dies in truck crash on Routes 11-15
LIVERPOOL -- An 18-year old Selinsgrove man was killed when his pickup truck collided with a tractor-trailer on Routes 11-15 in Perry County.
-
Reactions to budget plan mixed
SUNBURY -- Reaction to Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed 2012-2013 budget came from all directions Tuesday.
- More News Headlines
-
Jerry Sandusky argues for local jurors, suggests delay
