By Joseph S. Pete, Daily Journal of Johnson County
The Greenwood Public Library is laying off six employees and suspending a popular community reading program because of a drop in revenue.
A delay in property tax bills, falling property values and declining property tax revenue have made downsizing necessary, library director Margaret Hamilton said. The library eliminated positions that were determined not to be critical to keeping its doors open, including one employee who had worked at the library for 17 years.
The library had to make some cutbacks or face reducing its hours, which Hamilton said she wanted to avoid because of increased usage brought on by the recession.
Manufacturers, distribution centers, builders and other companies in Johnson County have laid off workers. School districts throughout the county have laid off or not replaced about a dozen teachers, but other local government agencies had not eliminated jobs because of the recession until now.
The library will lay off five part-time employees and one full-time employee, none of whom is a librarian. The staff reductions are expected to save about $35,000 in six months and will result in less service such as an often unmanned audio-visual department, Hamilton said.
Three of the employees worked in the audio-visual department, so often there will be no one on hand to assist patrons with equipment, she said. Other staff members are expected to pick up additional duties in the adult's and children's departments, where the other two employees worked.
The library also will suspend its community book read program, in which free copies of books such as "Marley and Me" and "Rocket Boys" are distributed to families. Not conducting a community book read this year should save $3,000, Hamilton said.
If revenues improve, the library district likely will bring back the community book read, which was started in 2002. Part of the goal of the program is to ensure that families have books in their homes and that children see their parents reading, so they will follow by example, Hamilton said.
The library tried to avoid the cutbacks by reducing costs, such as by not renewing some periodical subscriptions, putting restrictions on travel and using donations to fund some programs. But in the end, the cost savings were not enough, Hamilton said.
"We were forced to either downsize some staff or have to close the building by reducing hours," she said. "Ironically, more people are coming to use the library in this economy, often for help in their job searches. We see adults in here during the business day all the time now, and more families are coming to us to cut down on entertainment expenses."
Hamilton hopes to avoid cutting the library's hours at all costs.
The state has not approved the library's $1.5 million budget for this year. The district has had to borrow $464,948 so far this year to pay its operating expenses since property tax bills weren't mailed out in May for the third straight year.
Property tax bills have been sent late again mostly because of a state requirement for counties to update property values each year, which has slowed the process.
Property values in Greenwood are expected to be about $14 million less than last year, and the library board drafted a budget last year when the economic situation wasn't as grim, Hamilton said.
The library's property tax revenue is expected to drop 13.4 percent from last year, according to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.
Through Thursday, the library also has received $88,774 less than last year from other revenue sources, including interest on investments, photocopier fees, fines, property tax replacement credits, county income tax and the excise tax.
The economy also has encouraged people to return their items on time to avoid fines, caused the library's share of county income tax to drop by about $15,000 and reduced the amount of excise tax the district receives by about $27,000 because fewer people are buying cars and boats, Hamilton said.
"We're really facing a bit of a perfect storm," she said. "These employees will be missed, and this will affect the service we provide; but we have no other choice."
The Greenwood library district serves city residents, who pay the property taxes it needs to operate. The Johnson County Public Library system has branches in the Center Grove area, New Whiteland, Franklin and Trafalgar, while the town Edinburgh has its own library district.
"Our revenue has been drying up, so we've had to take these difficult but necessary steps at a time when the public has been coming to us more than ever before," Hamilton said.