Wayne libraries ask for additional funds from county

Amount given by the county is below state standard

By TOM KANE

HONESDALE, PA - The population of Wayne County has been growing steadily for the last few years, but the amount of county funding for the Wayne County libraries has remained consistently the same and is one of lowest funding levels in the state.

Appearing before the county commissioners on November 13, Cindy Smith, a member of both the board of the Wayne Library Authority and the Wayne County Library, asked the commissioners for two things.

“We are asking that the county match funds so that we can receive two grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to purchase 14 computers,” Smith said. “The funding is for two years. If the county contributes $5,200 to the library, the Gates Foundation will contribute $15,000 for the first year. If the county will match $7,800 in the second year, Gates will match another $7,800.”

The commissioners had no problem with that request. However, they balked at her second one.

“We are asking that the county give the seven libraries of the county a bigger piece of the 2008 budget pie than you have in the past,” Smith said. The amount coming from the county to the library each year is $4.21 per capita. Since the population of the county is about 50,000, the county’s yearly contribution is around $210,000. “The average contribution from local governments in the state is $15.41 per capita,” Smith said.

In order for the library to receive state funding, the state requires a funding level of at least $5 per capita. If a county can contribute that amount, the state is satisfied that the library is a priority and directs more grants to it.

Since the Wayne commissioners’ contribution of $4.21 is below $5, the commissioners expect the library to raise the remaining 79 cents to be eligible to receive state funds, which it has done through numerous fund-raising events. However, a large number of the people served by the library are in a lower-income bracket and cannot afford to contribute much, Smith said.

“We are asking the commissioners to give us more of the pie so we can meet our bills and serve the growing population that is coming to the library in larger and larger numbers, straining our resources,” Smith said.

“We are giving you now a little over $200,000,” commissioner Donald Olsommer said. “If we give you the $15.41 per capita amount, that’s an additional $770,000. How can we ever do that?”

“We are not asking for anything near that amount,” Smith said. “We are asking that you contribute more than just the $4.21. We are asking that you give the library more of the pie.”

The reason for the need for more funds is not only that more people are coming to the library, due to the increase in population, but that new technology is drawing even more library users, especially students.

“I think this has to come from the voting public, not us,” Olsommer said.

“We are not asking for a tax referendum,” Smith said. “We are asking for more of the pie.”

The commissioners will soon begin their deliberations on the new 2008 budget. “We will have to get back to you on this matter,” said Tony Herzog, commissioners chair.