Trustees Worry State Cuts Could Cost Libraries Their Loan Service

The Library of the Chathams' Board of Trustees expressed concern at a meeting Tuesday that cuts in state aid would devastate one of the library's most important resources.

The cuts, proposed by lawmakers, would take away as much as 74 percent of state aid to libraries. At the meeting, board members said they feared these cuts would bankrupt their interlibrary loan service. The program allows people to search for and acquire books from other state libraries without having to go further than their own local library.

Library Director Diane O'Brien expressed similar concerns in March.

"It will be a significant imposition on the libraries because more people are using libraries because the economy is bad," said trustee Jane Reiss. "We are hoping that the state will reconsider … we are encouraging people to write to the Legislature."

There has been a 35 percent uptick in use at The Library of the Chathams since 2000.

Reiss also discussed Saturday protests in Trenton, during which librarians marched against the cuts.

"I know that cuts have to be made, but ours are especially severe," she said.

If the service is eliminated, residents would have to physically go to individual libraries to obtain books, DVDs and other media their local library does not possess.

The board also discussed the ongoing redesign of the library Web site, and specifically talked about the creation of a second webpage specifically for the library's endowment fund.

According to trustee Emery Westfall, the Web site is there to "let people know about ways to donate and inform them about the fund."

There is currently no timetable for when the site will be completed.