Trumbull libraries’ budgets get status quo

By Ed Runyan | September 6, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

WARREN

The Trumbull County Budget Commission has arrived at a state funding distribution for Trumbull County’s 12 libraries that maintains the status quo.

The commission, composed of Auditor Adrian Biviano, Treasurer Sam Lamancusa and Prosecutor Dennis Watkins, released a seven-page explanation of the decision Wednesday.

In recent years, the library systems have agreed among themselves what percentage of state funding to use. But because they didn’t agree this time, the budget commission had to decide.

The county system and six other libraries gave presentations to the commission Aug. 6 explaining their funding requests.

The state approved $6,658,063 for the libraries to split among themselves for 2013, an increase of $172,135 over 2012.

Of that, the county system asked that its percentage of funding increase from 50 percent to 59 percent ($515,439), while the six other libraries asked to receive the same percentage of funding as in 2012, according to the budget commission.

James A. Wilkins, director of the county system, known as the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, said the county system continues to believe it should receive more than 50 percent of the state funding because it serves about 70 percent of the county’s population.

Wilkins said Wednesday the county system’s board of directors will meet Thursday and decide whether the distribution will require any changes to be made.

One thing he’s pretty sure of is that the system’s Sunday hours, which were eliminated in 2009, won’t be coming back.

The county system includes libraries in Warren, Brookfield, Cortland, Howland, Liberty, and Lordstown and a Bookmobile and homebound service.

The other community libraries are in Bristol, Girard, Hubbard, Kinsman, Niles and Newton Falls.

“It maintains the status quo. What can you say?” said Patrick Finan, director of the McKinley Memorial Library in Niles. “It’s fine with us.”