Five Numbers on the Library

The Anne Arundel County Public Library system held a  town hall meeting Thursday in Odenton to discuss the potential impact of proposed budget cuts. 

County Executive John Leopold, facing a total county budget deficit of nearly $75 million, has asked all agencies, including the library system, to reduce their budget by 10 percent. Library officials are hoping to keep reductions at no more than 4 percent. 

Library officials have thrown a lot of numbers out to make their case. Here are a few that are most noteworthy.

2 million - The number, in dollars, representing the library system's budget for materials. That's $1 million less than 2008, and the same as in 1999.

8 - The number of vacant positions that will be eliminated even if budget cuts are kept at 4 percent. It's also the ranking of the per capita funding for the library system, when listed alongside the other eight largest counties in Maryland. 

16 - The percent that the library budget has been cut in the last four years. Library officials claim that most other agencies in the county have not seen cuts of that size.

12 - The number of furlough days required of library employees this year.  

688 - The total number of hours that the 15 libraries in the county would be open each week if the system's budget was cut by 10 percent. That would be down from 804 in 2008.