Cranford Public Library Feels Fallout From State Budget Cuts

Faced with a 43-percent state cut to library funds announced July 7, New Jersey cooperative Infolink is paring down services and will no longer be dishing out seed money for pilot projects at public libraries, said Cranford Library Director John Malar, also the Vice President of Infolink.

"We're really not sure what the full ramifications will be," he added. For many years this company served as an incubator for some new programs and services at libraries in Union, Hudson, Middlesex, Hunter and Essex counties.

Infolink will only be concentrating its funds on interstate library loan deliveries and continuing education programs for library staff, explained Infolink Executive Director Cheryl O' Connor.

While it used to be just one of four cooperatives that operated in different regions, Infolink now covers the entire state, as the other three lost their funding this year.

In order to guarantee representation for other regions, Infolink will merge with representatives from all four cooperatives in September, O'Connor said. The name of the cooperative will also be changed at that time to reflect the consolidation.

The adjustments at Infolink aren't the only consequence of the budget shortfall however. Malar added that the state cut aid to the Cranford Public Library in half this year, from $20,000 to $10,000. The library uses state funding to buy books to place into circulation.

"We just have to be a little selective and not buy as much as we usually do," he said. "Patrons might have to wait a little longer to get a bestseller and the selection won't be quite as broad." But he added that the funding for the stacks "is still very healthy. $10,000 is still a good number."

And the cuts could have been much more, he said. He added that Governor Christie first proposed a 74 percent budget cut. If that reduction had gone through, Cranford Public Library would have been emptied of state resources such as online databases, the JerseyConnect Internet system and interlibrary loans, he said.

Library Hours

While many libraries around the state are cutting hours due to the budget cuts, Malar said he's happy to report that the Cranford Public Library will be able to keep its current business hours.

He added that many people work during the week, and so in his opinion the library's evening and weekend hours are essential for bringing in patrons.

"The big thing about any public library, its accessible, it's open to everyone and a big part of it is being open often enough," he said. 

In fact, when the township library funding decreased by 1 percent in 2010, Malar said one reason why he appealed to the township committee was to maintain current hours. The committee answered by scaling back the drop to 0.5 percent.

"They gave us $7,500 more than they were legally obligated to," Malar said, adding that it allowed the library to keep open Saturdays. "I didn't want to go backwards."