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Libraries OK cuts in staff, hours 
Board of trustees votes to close downtown branch on Sundays

By Cindi Andrews
Enquirer staff writer

As many as 15 of Hamilton County's 42 branch libraries would see their
operating hours cut in half if the state cuts spending on libraries.

Trustees of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County also
decided Monday that the main library downtown would have to close on
Sundays, jobs would be eliminated and purchases would be curtailed.

Those were among $3.5 million in cuts approved unanimously by the library
board if the General Assembly agrees with Gov. Bob Taft to spend less on
Ohio's libraries.

The board made its cuts in anticipation of losing $1.65 million in state
funding this year and an additional $2.4 million next year. The state
provides about 95 percent of the library's $50 million annual budget.

"Tough decisions need to be made," Trustee William Moran said. "It's
painful for everybody, and I think (library leaders) did a great job of
coming up with cuts that don't devastate the system - but they do devalue
it."

The library is one of the biggest in the United States, with a collection
of more than 5 million books and other materials. More than 400,000 people
have library cards - about half of Hamilton County's population.

Members borrowed 14.7 million items last year.

The board eliminated 39 jobs, or about 5 percent of the library's
staff. In most cases, the jobholder would have to be fired, Director
Kimber Fender said.

Spending on books, magazines, movies and other materials would be cut by
10 percent, or $780,000 a year. Fender said that will ultimately hurt the
library's overall collection.

"It's something that, once you do it, you can never go back and fix," she
said.

The first items the library will scale back are magazines, newspapers and
VHS-format videos. The library will likely buy fewer copies of best
sellers, too, she said.

The final details of the branch reorganization haven't been worked out,
but the plan is to have up to a dozen of the smallest locations share
staffs so that each would be open three days a week.

In other cases, a manager of a mid-size branch might be put in charge of a
small branch, too - also requiring the smaller location's hours to be cut.

Still, the approach is better than the one trustees took in 2002, when
they attempted to close Greenhills and four other branches, Greenhills
Councilman Fred Murrell said.

"Losing that facility three days a week would be a blow, but it would
certainly be preferable to having it closed," said Murrell, who helped
organize opposition to the closings.

Officials said the possible Sunday closing of the downtown library would
be partially offset by expanding Sunday hours at several suburban
branches.

But that was small comfort to some library patrons, who expressed dismay
over the cutbacks Monday.

"It's criminal. Anytime they cut materials, staff - I'm very concerned
about the library," said Debbie Simpson of Norwood. "It's one of the
amenities of inner-city living. It's the best use of our tax dollars."

University of Cincinnati grad student Stefanie Stallworth, 35, of Walnut
Hills, said she's a regular visitor to the Main Public Library on Sundays,
and said she'd consider supporting a special library tax. "I think people
should have access to information," she said.

Jane Williams, 72, of Clifton, also expressed support for a library tax,
but wasn't sure how many others would.

"We've got ourselves in the mindset that nobody should have to pay any
more taxes," she said.

Most of the changes won't take place for several more months, as efforts
continue to persuade the General Assembly not to cut libraries'
funding. But Taft and many lawmakers say libraries, like local governments
and social services programs, must share the pain in a difficult budget
year.

"I guess it doesn't help them if I say there isn't a state in the country
... that has anything like what we've been able to do for libraries," Taft
said at a meeting Monday afternoon with the Enquirer's editorial board.

About 78 percent of the state's libraries rely almost entirely on state
money. Cincinnati is the only one of the state's eight largest cities that
doesn't have a local tax levy, but trustees say they don't plan to ask for
one - at least, not this year.

"We're not at that point yet," trustee Charles Lindberg said.

William A. Weathers contributed.

E-mail candrews@enquirer.com


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