When do you plan to increase your hours? Can I sign up for a computer class now? These are just a few of the questions we have received from the public since the library levy was approved on March 6th. The support of the library by the community is truly appreciated. I want to assure our supporters, the people of Meigs County, that we are doing everything we can to restore services as quickly as possible. The thing about a levy though, is that although it was approved in 2012, the library will not receive any additional funds from the levy until at least a year from now after property taxes are collected in 2013. In the meantime, we are still dealing with a 6.5% cut to our budget compared to the funds we received in 2011.
The library board has been very conservative with expenditures for several years, just like any of us would do with our budgets at home. With the assurance that money will be coming in due to the levy next year, there are some things we can do now to begin to bring back some of the services which were cut in 2009. The first step in our plan is to restore one day per week to each of the branches in Middleport, Racine and Eastern and to restore evening hours until 8 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday at the Pomeroy location. We will be accepting applications for several part-time positions which we hope to have filled by early May. After training the new staff and if all goes well, we should be able to open for the extended hours described above by mid-summer. A definite date will be announced at a later time. Thank you for your patience as we work to serve you better.
Kristi L. Eblin
Library Director
This article appeared in The Daily Sentinel on April 8, 2012