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Library’s future is uncertain
AUSTINTOWN — The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County will be unable to sustain its current operations in 2011 unless it plans corrective actions soon, its director said.
“What we need to do in 2010 is figure out what level of service people want and what they’re willing to pay for,” said Carlton Sears, library director. An additional local library levy is possible if it’s needed to fund the services the public believes are important, he said.
The system will be seeking public comments as it plans during 2010 for the future of library service, the director said. As it charts its course, Sears said he “definitely” wants the system to maintain its debt-free status.
Sears made his comments after library trustees approved proposed 2010 appropriations of $11,944,800 and revised 2009 appropriations of $12,135,400 in the general fund, which is the library’s main operating fund.
Also approved Thursday were building-and-repair-fund appropriations of $100,000 for 2010 and $290,400 for 2009, and technology-development-fund appropriations of $160,300 for 2010 and $262,900 for 2009.
The declines in all three funds are due largely to state budget cuts, said Susan G. Merriman, library fiscal officer.
The system started 2009 with a projected operating budget of $14 million, but state budget cuts reduced that figure by almost $2 million, Sears said.
The library system expects to receive $6,569,533 in state funds next year, compared with $8,001,133 this year, Sears said.
The voters stabilized the system’s local funding when they approved a 1-mill, five-year property- tax renewal levy by a 71 percent favorable vote last month, Sears said.
“The levy was critical because, if we would have lost that, we would have lost about 28 percent of our receipts, and that would have given us another huge hole to fill” in the library budget, said Janet Loew, communications and public- relations director.
At 100 percent collections, that levy generates $3,622,000 annually.
However, Sears noted: “It was a renewal. It didn’t raise any new income. It didn’t correct any of the loss of funds that took place in 2009.”
The 15-percent systemwide cut in library hours in September and the layoff of 30 library employees this year did not adequately compensate for the loss in state funds, Sears said.
Because of the cutback in hours, there’s been a “heightened sense of tension and confrontation” between patrons competing for use of computer terminals in some libraries, Sears told the board.
At Sears’ request, the board voted Thursday, for the second consecutive year, to freeze Sears’ salary, which he said is about $100,000 a year. The system consists of the main library and 15 branches and has 170 employees.
Library officials have reduced lighting and reduced library thermostats to 68 degrees to achieve energy and money savings, the director said. When he became director here 13 years ago, the thermostats were generally between 70 and 72 degrees, he said.