NEW CASTLE Funding cuts would force library to adjust

The proposed cuts would take effect in July and January.
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The New Castle Public Library would be forced to cut hours of operation, staff and programs if the current Pennsylvania budget proposal becomes law.
Susan Walls, executive director of the library, said the Pennsylvania General Assembly recently passed a budget that includes a 50 percent cut in state funding for libraries. She said library advocates have been hard at work lobbying legislators to reverse the decision, and are hopeful that the cut will be scaled back.
George Carenbauer, the library business manager, said before the budget takes effect, the legislators have the opportunity to amend it. Walls and other library staff are encouraging patrons to write to Gov. Ed Rendell and other legislators.
Carenbauer said if the current state funding cuts remain in place, the New Castle Public Library stands to lose $343,000, about 34 percent of its $1 million operating budget. That represents a 50 percent cut in the $480,000 budget for the library's district center operation July 1. Come Jan. 1, there will be a 50 percent cut in the state funds for local operations, normally $206,000, Carenbauer said.
The New Castle library serves as a district center for 23 libraries in Lawrence, Mercer, Butler and Armstrong counties, Walls said.
The library has a van to take books to these libraries twice a week. Instead of several libraries trying to buy expensive reference materials, the New Castle library uses a portion of its district money for the materials. One staff member is on hand to answer phone or e-mail reference questions from other district librarians trying to help patrons, Walls said.
What would be lost
If the funding is cut, that reference librarian my be one of the staff members lost. The book delivery to the out-of-town libraries will be once-a-week instead of twice, she said.
The library hours are 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The cuts could result in the library's being closed Saturday with reduced hours during the week, she said.
The cuts could mean elimination of preschool story times and after-school programming as well as the elimination of adult book discussion groups, senior citizens meetings and computer classes at the library.
"Videos, DVD movies, compact discs and even current fiction and nonfiction will undergo a thorough review to determine the amount of purchasing to be cut in each area," Walls said.
"We need your help to convince the legislators and the governor that your library is important to you," Walls said.