“We're like other people. It's tough times. We try to work with folks and explain how the situation is. Maybe there are some people out there who would support the library if they could understand this," said Jack Loudermilk of Hamptonville who serves as the chairman of the Yadkin County Library Board. He has been on the board around three years.
"It's not a time where there is a lot of money running loose that is available. We'll just try to see what we can do,” said Loudermilk about closing the library on Saturdays.
"We requested that they (Yadkin County) fix what was an unfortunate understanding with the budget. Of course they did not. With the town also reducing the amount of money provided, you finally get to the point after so many years of nothing, you have to make some changes. It was decided that it would be the simplest way at the time.”
This was done in lieu of cutting staff members, he said.
“We cut staff hours by five hours a week. We’re down to no book money and no money for a lot of things,” he said. “You still have people who read books. Then again each library through grants they have some of the latest in computer systems for those who don’t have computers. In many cases it’s people who have lost their job and cannot afford an Internet connection. There’s someone there to help them with searches.
“This is beyond genealogy research and magazines and educational activities for the kids. This is all a piece of it,” he said. The amount requested was around $3,000.
“That’s from the county system,” he said.
Could the Saturday hours be returned?
“The county’s part of that hinged on the city’s amount,” he said. “The two pieces together were to assure that we didn’t get a greater reduction in state funds. We still don’t know what the state will do. I think it’s a question of how much we will get cut by the state.”
The board will just wait for the other shoe to drop with state funds, he said, and see what happens.
“This year’s budget included an increase in retirement costs and an increase in medical increase costs,” he said. “You’re asking for no increases in money, and you’re trying to hold the line.”
Even if the numbers are the same, the library’s money is being reduced, he said.
“I think there was an unfortunately misunderstanding of the budget process in the beginning. We asked no more from the county. It was the same amount we had asked for in the last couple of years,” he said.
What will happen to the children with no Saturday service?
“It’s not just children,” he said. Older people need Internet service, he said.
“They may not even have a computer,” he said. “I think it’s as much for older people as it is for children.”
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