Another state cut to libraries looms

CAPITAL WATCH

Friday, April 3, 2009

The massive state budget deficit means across-the-board reductions for recipients of state aid, but libraries hoped their goodwill last year would spare them this year. Not so. County libraries saw their funding slashed by 10 percent, which jeopardizes programs and could force staff layoffs or scaling back hours. "We don't know what we would cut at this point, but it's definitely substantial," said Sharan Marshall, director of the Southern Maryland Regional Library Association.

St. Mary's is bracing for anywhere between a $40,000 to $82,000 cutback in library funding.

Charles County's library could lose up to $105,000 for fiscal 2010. That includes about $20,000 from an accounting error that gave some school systems and libraries additional money in the current fiscal year.

Calvert's library system faces a $60,000 reduction.

Local funding also factors into how libraries will weather the cuts. Head librarians in Charles and Calvert counties are expecting local aid to be held flat. St. Mary's County Library Director Kathleen Reif said she is anticipating an additional $60,000 from the county.

The cuts might force Charles County libraries to reduce its current seven-days-a-week schedule, said Director Emily Ferren. Libraries may also have to decrease how many public-access computers it offers and scale back on the number of programs it offers.

It also threatens the capital program for libraries, such as a new branch in Waldorf that is slated to open in 2011.

"The only thing I worry about is how we are going to operate the library once it opens," Ferren said.

Disabilities agencies struggle with cuts

Groups that provide services to the disabled community pleaded with Southern Maryland lawmakers to be sensitive to their needs as they make final budget decisions in the coming weeks.

Over the last 10 years, state aid for disabilities services have decreased by $104 million factoring for inflation, according to the Maryland Association of Community Services.

Spring Dell Center, a La Plata-based agency that assists individuals with developmental disabilities, is in the red for the first time in 12 years, said Executive Director Donna Retzlaff.

Lawmakers said the state deficit has forced painful decisions that they don't always agree with.

"It's been the toughest year I've seen since I've been up here," said Del. John F. Wood Jr. (D-St. Mary's, Charles), who has been a member of the House of Delegates since 1987. "In Southern Maryland, some of these agencies are hanging on by a thread. How much longer can they survive?"

Wood added that while there's a greater focus put on more glamorous items, disabilities agencies are among "the programs we overlook" when crafting the budget.

abrody@somdnews.com