By Liz Beavers
Tribune Managing Editor
KEYSER —The Keyser-Mineral County Library and its branches in Burlington and Fort Ashby are probably busier than they have ever been, but expected cuts in state funding and a downturn in the amount of donations are posing problems for the facility.
Library director Connie Sutton has met with both the Mineral County Commission and the Board of Education in recent days to share “the good news, and the bad news.”
“The good news is, we’re seeing a lot more patrons in all our libraries,” she told both the commission and the board “The Keyser Library has gone from an average of 13 patrons an hour to 16 patrons an hour. Our summer reading program was one of the best we've had in years.
“The Burlington Library,” she added, “ has seen an increase in class visits and the Fort Ashby Library is doing special programs with home schoolers,” she added.
Sutton said the computers at the Keyser Library always have a waiting list of people wanting to use them.
“We have five computers in the library, and we get at least 50 people in a day to use them,” she said.
Interestingly, Sutton also said the scope of the librarians’ work has
changed somewhat over the past year.
“Patrons are now asking us for everything under the sun,” she said. “We have become the place for information of any kind. We help with finding the correct government form, resume writing, online job applications, referrals to other community agencies, and sometimes directions to just about anywhere in the county,” she said.
“In two months, we’ll be the place for tax forms.”
The bad news, she said, is that funding from the West Virginia State Library Commission is expected to decrease by as much as 7 percent in 2011. Along with that, tough economic times have precipitated a decrease in local contributions.
With the state mandating that the libraries come up with local funds to match their state funding, Sutton said the Mineral County Library will need between $12,000-$19,000 by June 30, 2010, in order to avoid losing its state money.
“Now, I know you’re not going to wake up in the middle of the night and say, ‘we're going to give the library $12,000,’ but we’d appreciate anything you could do,” she told the commissioners.
The library receives local contributions from both the commission and the board of education, which Sutton said had not been increased over the past year. The third local contributor is the City of Keyser, which did increase its contribution.
Commission President Wayne Spiggle suggested Sutton speak to the various service clubs throughout the county to see if they would be willing to help boost the library's budget, and also directed the request to be placed on the agenda for the commission's next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 10.
At the board of education meeting, Superintendent Skip Hackworth told Sutton he would work with Treasurer Steve Peer “to see if we can do something for you.”
The request will be placed on the agenda for the board's Tuesday, Nov. 17, meeting.
