Libraries get their funding from basically two places...local levies, and the state. With tax revenue down and the state facing a 3.2 billion dollar budget gap, libraries expected to take a hit from Columbus. They anticipated a 20-percent reduction. But late last week the Governor said a total cut of fifty percent would be necessary.
Murray: "We think that additional 30-percent is a pretty hard hit."
The news caught Lynda Murray totally off guard. She lobbies on behalf of libraries for the Ohio Library Council.
Murray: "We understand the need for us to take our fair share of cuts and we believe that 20 percent we're taking this year and next year as revenues decline really IS our fair share."
So what would a fifty-percent cut in state funding mean? Tracy Strobel is the deputy director of Cuyahoga County Public Library.
Strobel: "Well, with a 50-percent reduction in funding we absolutely can't sustain services as they know it. So while we can't be specific at this time, it would be certain they'd feel significant cutbacks in their services."
The director of Cleveland Public Library says branch closures and reduced hours are a possible outcome. However these two library systems would be relatively sheltered from steeper cuts because most of their budgets come from local tax levies. Not so for most libraries in Ohio which rely almost exclusively on state money. The Cincinnati Public Library -- the state's largest -- depends on Columbus for almost all of its funding.
Governor Strickland's spokeswoman, Amanda Wurst says the Governor doesn't want to make these cuts to libraries...but tough times require tough choices.
Wurst: "This is not a matter of the worthiness of the programs. It's a matter of not having the funds. These are very difficult decisions. Nearly every state gov program will absorb a cut to sustain limited resources to protect the most vulnerable Ohioans including children, the elderly and the disabled."
Still, library advocates say a fifty-percent cut is much steeper than most other state-funded programs are being asked to take. At this point, though, the cuts are still only a proposal.