Warsaw Library To Cut Back On Hours
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
In response to the predicted financial shortfall caused by the state's delay in tax reassessment, the board of Warsaw Community Public Library voted to cut the building's hours of operation from 66 to 55 per week.
The cuts will last "the duration of the current economic uncertainty," said board member Mark Morrison as he made the motion to trim the hours Monday.
Beginning Monday, WCPL hours will be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.
Reduced hours of operation are just the tip of the funding iceberg.
There is a freeze on hiring, part-time staffers will receive a 17 percent cut in their hours and expenditures are limited to utility bills and absolute emergencies.
New books, videos, periodicals and other materials will not be ordered until the tax revenues are released.
"Fortunately," said assistant library director Joni Brookins, "the fifth 'Harry Potter' book and the 11th book in the 'Left Behind' series have been ordered." Both novels are expected to be extremely popular.
Library director Ann Zydek said libraries across the state are taking different approaches to the financial crisis. Some are borrowing expense money; many are reducing hours of operation.
The regular June distribution is not expected until September - or later - forcing government entities to stretch tax disbursements received in December through the year or to borrow the money.
The hours were selected to accommodate the library's popular storytime sessions for children. Statistics show circulation is heaviest at 3 p.m., then 1 p.m., 5 p.m., 4 p.m., 11 a.m. and noon, in that order. The heaviest evening hours are on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Patrons who have reserved the meeting rooms Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays after 6 p.m. are asked to contact the library and make other arrangements.
The board heard that World War II veteran Albert Smith became the first local vet to have his stories recorded as part of the Veteran's History Project.
Copies of his interview will be sent to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and will be archived at the library.
Brookins said other interviews are scheduled. Staff members will tape the interviews in the veterans' homes as well as at the library.
In other business, the board:
• Heard costs to rent a merchant's tent booth during the Kosciusko County 4-H and Community Fair have doubled. The library will not be able to afford a space there this year.
• Reviewed circulation figures showing 41,885 items were checked out in February, compared to 40,533 February 2002, a record-setting year.
• Heard Vreneli Brenneman, an Ivy Tech State College student, is serving as an intern.
• Heard the library's former periodical-buying company, Divine, may be purchased by EBSCO. The Divine company is in bankruptcy court and received library money for this year's magazine subscriptions.
Board members are: Paulette Sauders, Mark Morrison, Tony Etienne, Joel Curry, Larry Chamberlain and John Yingling. Ruth Nye was absent. [[In-content Ad]]
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In response to the predicted financial shortfall caused by the state's delay in tax reassessment, the board of Warsaw Community Public Library voted to cut the building's hours of operation from 66 to 55 per week.
The cuts will last "the duration of the current economic uncertainty," said board member Mark Morrison as he made the motion to trim the hours Monday.
Beginning Monday, WCPL hours will be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.
Reduced hours of operation are just the tip of the funding iceberg.
There is a freeze on hiring, part-time staffers will receive a 17 percent cut in their hours and expenditures are limited to utility bills and absolute emergencies.
New books, videos, periodicals and other materials will not be ordered until the tax revenues are released.
"Fortunately," said assistant library director Joni Brookins, "the fifth 'Harry Potter' book and the 11th book in the 'Left Behind' series have been ordered." Both novels are expected to be extremely popular.
Library director Ann Zydek said libraries across the state are taking different approaches to the financial crisis. Some are borrowing expense money; many are reducing hours of operation.
The regular June distribution is not expected until September - or later - forcing government entities to stretch tax disbursements received in December through the year or to borrow the money.
The hours were selected to accommodate the library's popular storytime sessions for children. Statistics show circulation is heaviest at 3 p.m., then 1 p.m., 5 p.m., 4 p.m., 11 a.m. and noon, in that order. The heaviest evening hours are on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Patrons who have reserved the meeting rooms Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays after 6 p.m. are asked to contact the library and make other arrangements.
The board heard that World War II veteran Albert Smith became the first local vet to have his stories recorded as part of the Veteran's History Project.
Copies of his interview will be sent to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and will be archived at the library.
Brookins said other interviews are scheduled. Staff members will tape the interviews in the veterans' homes as well as at the library.
In other business, the board:
• Heard costs to rent a merchant's tent booth during the Kosciusko County 4-H and Community Fair have doubled. The library will not be able to afford a space there this year.
• Reviewed circulation figures showing 41,885 items were checked out in February, compared to 40,533 February 2002, a record-setting year.
• Heard Vreneli Brenneman, an Ivy Tech State College student, is serving as an intern.
• Heard the library's former periodical-buying company, Divine, may be purchased by EBSCO. The Divine company is in bankruptcy court and received library money for this year's magazine subscriptions.
Board members are: Paulette Sauders, Mark Morrison, Tony Etienne, Joel Curry, Larry Chamberlain and John Yingling. Ruth Nye was absent. [[In-content Ad]]