By Rick Dandes
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.
