KEYSER — Mineral County Library director Connie Sutton will be traveling to Charleston Thursday for the West Virginia Library Association’s Legislative Day.
Chief on her mind will be a proposed funding cut which could mean a loss of $8,400 to the local library system, which includes Keyser and branches in Fort Ashby and Burlington.
Meeting with members of the Mineral County Library Board recently, Sutton said a loss of such magnitude, compounded by expected increases in employers' contributions to the state Public Employee Retirement System for fiscal year 2011, could cause the local libraries to make some tough cutbacks.
All this comes on the heels of an already strained budget year.
“In the current year, we had to cut our book budget,” Sutton said. “We snipped here and we snipped there and pared it down as much as we could.
“I don’t see that we have anything else to cut now but staff hours and the time we're open,” she said.
Sutton has already met with the Mineral County Board of Education and County Commissioners to ask for consideration of a funding increase as they approach their budgeting processes.
Last week, she told the Library Board that “the good news is, the board of education voted to give us an additional $5,000. We’re still waiting to hear from the county commission.”
How much the libraries receive from the board, however, depends upon the continuation of the county's levy, which comes up for a vote on Saturday. The levy, which has remained in effect since 1952, raises $59,427 used to financially support the county's libraries, WVU 4-H Extension, Camp Minco, and education-
related entities. The library's share, according to Sutton, is $13,000.
The local contributions are used as matches so the libraries can be considered eligible for state funding.
During Mineral County Day at the Legislature on Jan. 14, Del. Bob Schadler of Mineral County “urged the local funding authorities to give us more more so we wouldn't lose our state funding,” Sutton said.
Sutton also said she “understands the economy is bad” and that everyone is being forced to make budget cuts.
The irony of that, however, is that a tough economy brings an increase in library use.
Similarly, the various levels of funding that the library receives have an affect on each other.
“Local funds are used to match state funds, and state funds match federal funds,” she said.
Keyser, W.Va. —
