By Kyle LoJacono
Staff Writer
The proposed elimination of state funding to support public libraries would hit Pasco and Hillsborough county facilities more than once.
“The real problem is that if we lose state funding then we will eventually lose federal funding too,” said Linda Allen, Pasco library director. “In a nutshell, the federal money we can get each year is based on how much state money we get. If that drops to zero, then we won’t get any federal money in the future and that goes for every library in public system across the state.”
The proposal to cut all state funding is just that at this point — only a proposal. If state money is completely cut, libraries will be able to receive federal grants until 2014-15 because the Institute of Museum and Library Services allocates money according to state funding for the previous three years.
“I’m just asking the state legislator to keep the funding at its current level,” Allen said. “I don’t want any more money, just what we received last year.”
The Pasco County budget for the Pasco Library System is $6,011,514 for the 2009-10 year, which ends in October. The Pasco system also receives $176,212 from the state and about $330,000 from the federal government. The federal money includes three grants and 60 percent reimbursement of its Internet and other computer costs. The state and federal money accounts for 8 percent of the Pasco library budget.
Funding information on Tampa-Hillsborough Library System was not available at press time except that it received $910,388 from the state. Florida has allocated $21.3 million for all of its public libraries this fiscal year.
Libraries in Pasco and Hillsborough have already been asked to do more with less since the economic downturn.
“I can’t speak on any specific numbers, but what has been most affected is the staffing and budget for new books,” said Jim Graves, head of the Lutz Branch Library. “We used to be open for five hours on Sunday and we aren’t anymore. We also used to be open more during the week.”
The entire Hillsborough system cut its staff by 15 percent according to Joe Stines, director of the Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library system. The story is similar in Pasco.
“The libraries were opened 46 hours each week and it was dropped to 40 since April of last year,” Allen said. “We also had to cut 14 positions to make our budget and our materials cost was cut 13 percent. That 13 percent is part of a 40 percent cut over the last three years.”
Some of the libraries in Pasco that have been affected by the county budget cuts include those in Land O’ Lakes, New River and Dade City. One facility that did not see its budget cut this past fiscal year was the Zephyrhills Public Library, which is funded almost entirely by the city.
“We do get some state funding through our cooperative program with the Pasco County Library System, so that would hurt our budget some,” said Vicki Elkins, director for the Zephyrhills library. “It would be a smaller part of our budget but it’s still a part.”
The cooperative program is an online resource for people to find information about topics such as upcoming events, government programs and available books.
These proposed state budget cuts are being discussed during a time when library use is increasing.
“The number of people that have been checking out books in Pasco libraries has been going up since I’ve been here,” said Graves, who started working at the Lutz Library one year ago. “We have 19 computers connected to the Internet and I believe more people are using those too.”
Graves said the economy was likely the reason for the increase.
“We have seen an increase of 6 percent of people checking out books this year from the last and we expect it to continue to rise,” Allen said. “People would rather rent a book than buy it right now…People also tend to get rid of their Internet access when they lose their job, but a lot of companies want you to submit resumes online. So people need Internet access provided by their libraries now.”
Allen recently received the Librarian of the Year award by the Florida Library Association for her work with Pasco libraries.
“I just love libraries and books,” Allen said. “I worked as a shelfer in my high school library and received a master’s degree in library sciences from George Peabody College for Teachers, which is now part of Vanderbilt University. I’ve been in libraries my whole life.”
Allen said she and the Pasco Library System would continue to give the best access to books and other information to the public as possible, as did Graves.
“We have to work with what we have,” Graves said. “Our programs for kids and adults are funded by the Friends of the Lutz Library, which is a group that makes a lot of very generous donations to the library. Thankfully their generosity has remained throughout the budget situation.”
For more information on the Tampa-Hillsborough Library System, visit www.thpl.org. To learn about the Pasco Library System, visit www.pascolibraries.org.
