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March 21, 2024

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Spring Housing Guide

Library hits rough funding patch, shifts hours of operation

The Wood County Public Library was closed for a week in the beginning of the month due to a tight budget.

The doors of the library were locked and all of the lights were off during the week that followed Easter, a method that saved $17,000. This was the second time the library closed for a week after closing for a week last fall, said Mary Boone, public relations coordinator.

Boone said it was in response to the economy and for the last calendar year, the library has been struggling with its budget. Because they are funded through the state, the revenues have gone down.

The first quarter of the year’s funding is on average usually more than the later months, but this year state funding for the library has gone down 18 percent in the first quarter of the year.

The library’s Board of Trustees is monitoring the library’s finances in order to determine if future closings are necessary. During the week-long closing, none of the staff were paid.

“Libraries across the state are struggling,” Boone said.

“If [the library] stays closed for a small amount of time until the [state] is able to fit it into its budget, then I think it will not be a huge problem,” said student Mackenzy McNeill. “But closing it for good might be an issue.”

The library has been “tightening belt” for quite some time, Boone said. The hours of the library have reduced from being open 67 hours each week in 2008 to only 54 in 2010. The staff count has reduced to only 32 employees from the 52 that worked for the library in 2007. Boone said there have been no layoffs though; when an employee leaves the library, their position is left empty.

“It reflects the economy as a whole, the downturn that’s affecting everything,” Boone said.

Boone said because the library is funded solely by the state, and the only steps the community can take is letting their legislatures know how important they feel the library is for the town.

Student Jordan McCallister shared her concern because she takes the children she baby-sits to the library from time to time.

“The environment is nice because the kids can interact with other children and have something to spruce up their summer,” McCallister said.

Student Adam Milhouse shared some of the same concern saying public libraries are good places for the town’s high school-aged teenagers to go after school because it keeps them out of trouble in a safe environment. He said for that reason, it is important for the state to fund the library.

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