Pretty soon, library patrons might have to stick to their hometown libraries or pay a fee to use other libraries' services, as local libraries struggle to cope with a proposed 40 percent cut in state aid.
A state Legislature conference committee voted Sunday to reduce state aid from $10 million to $6 million, setting the stage for votes in the House and Senate when their members return to work Tuesday.
Lawmakers are trying to erase a $2.8 billion shortfall by the end of Wednesday to prevent a partial shutdown of state government.
The library cuts are just one of the items on the table.
'This is a big loss for a lot of people,' said Sandra Wilson, director of the Lakeland Library Cooperative. It covers 41 West Michigan library systems and allows for patrons from any library to check out resources and return them in any of the member libraries.
The group, which delivered about three million items last year, would lose more than $150,000 of its $1.9 million budget if the proposed cut goes through.
Wilson said among possible cuts to services, they've considered reducing deliveries between libraries from five to three times a week, and to stop reciprocal returns, thus reduce the volume exchanged between libraries.
The cuts also would put in jeopardy $3.8 million in matching funds the federal government provides for an online information and subscription program called 'MeL,' which is used by students, teachers and residents across the state and MeLCat, the statewide interlibrary loan system.
Those cuts wouldn't hit until 2011 or 2012.
'You're going to see those things disappearing,' Wilson said. 'It's a shame.'
Last year, the Lakeland Library Cooperative received $440,000 from the state. That's expected to be reduced to $246,000 this year.
'In hard economic times, libraries get busy. People who don't have computers at home come here to look for jobs, to send applications, even to get an education,' Wilson said.
She said smaller libraries depend more on those with bigger collections and may be affected more by the cuts.
Martha Smart, Kent District Library director, said her system expected to receive $850,000 of its $16.4 million budget from the state.
The cut comes as the district already faces a decrease in property tax revenues, which represents 85 percent of its budget.
'That sharing of materials between libraries is very popular with the public and will likely be reduced. That will have a big impact for KDL,' she said.
'To have this big of cuts to public libraries, it's pretty devastating for the state of Michigan.'
Tom Genson, director of Holland's Herrick District Library, said they're still trying to gauge the impact the cuts will have on individual libraries.
He agreed losing the online catalog and databases would be a blow to schools, colleges and residents who count on the program to reach reliable information.
Last year, Herrick received $62,000 of its $5.5 million budget from the state. They had planned on receiving only $49,000.
For the full article, see Nardy Baeza Bickel, 'Proposed 40 percent budget cut to Michigan libraries may hurt interlibrary loan system', The Grand Rapids Press via MLive, September 28, 2009.
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