Published: March 15, 2008 12:44 am         

Library system holds the line on budget request

CUMBERLAND — About an hour before the Allegany County commission opened the first round of budget hearings March 6, Commissioner Jim Stakem was a little unsettled. After weeks of subtle hints to various agencies that money is scarce, they advised everyone to try to hold the line.

On Thursday, John Taube demonstrated that he had received the message. Taube, director of the Allegany County Library System, presented a request of $905,000 for operating expenses for fiscal 2009, which begins July 1. It’s the same amount Taube and the library system’s board of trustees requested last year.

The library follows a number of organizations from the March 6 hearings that also held the line, including Scenic Railroad Development, Tri-County Council and the Family Crisis Resource Center.

“Almost everybody’s been cooperating,” Stakem said. “We’ve been pleased so far.”

The Upper Potomac River Commission actually requested less than last year — albeit a decrease of $131. But repairs to the Savage River Dam could be a rather large capital expense, Stakem said, which could overshadow the decrease.

It wasn’t easy for the library. The move required library officials to freeze two anticipated vacancies — children’s librarians at the South Cumberland and LaVale branches. The number of children’s programs will not decrease, however. Children’s librarians at other branches will help cover the losses once the two employees retire.

The trustees also deferred some maintenance repairs until the following year. The moves allow the library system to absorb increases in health care insurance, collections and electricity, Taube said.

“Hopefully, fiscal ’09 won’t be a year where a lot of things go wrong,” Taube said.

He also said more staff development and training will be conducted online, further reducing the system’s expenses.

The county funds about half of the library’s $1.84 million operating budget. The state funds 40 percent. Taube noted pending legislation that would likely defer statewide library systems’ per capita funding increase for one year.

“We sort of approached the budget given the news that we had with the best-case scenario at this point is going to be flat funding” from both the state and county governments, Taube said. “We started looking at every line to see what was absolutely necessary, to see what could be delayed or deferred.”

He said the dollar amount will ensure the facilities remain in good shape. Taube said visitors come to the libraries for the collection and services offered.

“We don’t want to get into the trap of having less than is of interest to the public so they stop coming in,” Taube said.

The library system offers access to 47 databases, online tutoring and live homework help. A new feature available March 4, called MyLibraryDV, allows library cardholders to download movies and documentaries free of charge. Taube touted that the county funding equated to $12.22 per county resident, each of whom received a value of about $126 throughout the year.

At the most recent statistics review last month, the trustees noted 360,000 people visited county libraries each year and another 240,000 were served after hours through online programs.

There are no capital requests for this year, Taube said. Next year, however, he hopes to begin looking at upgrading the LaVale branch.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.