State Cuts Threaten County Libraries

By David Howell

Editor

COFFEEVILLE – The already reduced operating hours at libraries in Coffeeville and Oakland could be cut again unless funding is increased at the local level. Yalobusha County Library System Director Patty Bailey reported during the “first Monday” supervisor meeting that by July 1, the local library system will be cut more than $18,000 in state funding during a 12-month period.

“It’s like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree,” Bailey told supervisors about her budget as cuts continue to come from the state. “There is no way we can continue to keep the same hours and do everything that we do without more money.” 

Bailey pointed to a trend over almost a decade in state cuts, noting that in 2008 the county’s library system received $40,000 annually in state funding. In the coming fiscal year, she said that the funding will be just over $14,000.  She also reminded county officials that currently the Coffeeville library is open 29 hours a week and the Oakland library is open 21 hours a week. 

Bailey also explained that the county’s library board had an emergency meeting on April 11 and agreed to appeal to the county, along with the towns of Coffeeville and Oakland, for more money.

“Otherwise we will have to begin right away cutting back hours and reducing salary for staff,” Bailey explained, adding that the current pay for librarians is around $10.50 per hour. 

Input From Supervisors 

“There are a tremendous amount of cuts coming our way because of things that are happening in Jackson. So to give her a guarantee today about what we can do… it would be hard for me to do because I don’t know what our financial state is going to be,” Board President Cayce Washington said following Bailey’s plea. 

District 3 Lee McMinn also pointed to the tough decisions made last year to fund the county’s operations without raising taxes.

“We’ve slashed last time, we cut things out that I thought would never be cut. It’s not going to be a matter of finding the money through cuts, it’s going to be a matter of, if you want a library, you are going to have to raise taxes,” McMinn said.

“We have no where else to cut either, you look at our tiny budget and there is no where I can make up $20,000. It’s a choice of keeping our days open or closing the doors part of the time,” Bailey told supervisors.

“It’s an ugly word,” Washington noted about the most likely option to increase funding to the library would have to be a tax increase. 

“Between now and budget time, we are going to have to talk to our constituents and ask how important is the library system in Yalobusha County to you,” McMinn continued, referring to the annual budget work that gets underway in August.

The topic came to a close Monday with discussion about funding options outside of tax money when Washington asked if the libraries have support groups to help raise money. 

“We have Friends of the Library in both of our libraries, but they can’t raise $20,000,” Bailey said.

Washington also asked about charging library patrons for services, citing the use of internet services as a possible option. 

Bailey explained that the library receives federal funding to pay for 90 percent of the cost to provide fiber optic internet to the libraries, which prohibits charging for usage.

“The way public libraries function is that they are free, if you take that away it is no longer a public library,” Bailey added. 

During last year’s budget, the county’s library system was one of few departments in the county receiving increased county funding during the current fiscal year, which started last October, when supervisors added $5,000 to offset earlier state cuts. 

Blackmur Library in Water Valley is not part of the county’s library system.