A version of this conversation aired during Morning Edition on WVIA Radio.
After a long battle, the Bradford County Library is losing 30% of its funding for 2025. That's a smaller loss than the commissioners' earlier proposed 50% cut, but library staff are figuring out how to keep the library open with such a significant cut.
WVIA's Isabela Weiss was there for the commissioners meeting. She explains what the library does next.
—
SARAH: Good morning Isabela, thanks for being here.
ISABELA: Yeah, happy to be here.
SARAH: So what does the budget cut entail for the library, and how are they going to move forward?
ISABELA: Yeah, so that budget cut now is a 30% loss of funding to the library for 2025 and honestly, they're quite worried. I mean, recently, the interim director Rebecca Troup-Hodgon was fired, so they're already down a staff member. Also that budget tries to get the library to reduce the number of full time and part time employees, and so at this point, they're not really sure if they're actually going to be able to keep the library open. Representatives from the library and the Friends of the Bradford County Library President Anna Jennings recently said that they will do everything in their power to keep the library open. But as of this point, they're kind of still scrambling, to be honest. I mean, they're, you know, grateful that it's not the loss that they expected that they would have with a 50% cut. They're also grateful that the library's bookmobile — which supplies books to around the whole county — they're grateful that is going to stay within the library's budget for $45,000 because, you know, they have most of the books in the whole county. So that bookmobile can't function if it is separated from the library, but they haven't really said any specifics.
SARAH: Now, how many full time or part time employees, if you're aware, does the library have right now?
ISABELA: So I don't know the exact number. I recently spoke to someone who is in close contact with the library and is on it the library systems board, and he says that they have five employees as of this point, but as right now, I mean, that is kind of up in the air with this big budget cut.
SARAH: You were at this meeting where the commissioners took this vote, and this has been a really tense issue for several months now.
ISABELA: About a year-and-a-half.
SARAH: So what was the atmosphere like at this meeting while they were taking the vote and discussing this issue?
ISABELA: So residents honestly seemed defeated for the most part. I mean, everyone knew that this budget was going to pass. I mean, the most surprising part was the fact that it was a two-to-one vote. Commissioner Zachary Gates voted against the budget specifically because it did not raise the millage rate. The millage rate is connected to your property taxes, so if they raise that rate, you have to pay more for any property that you own in the county. And he was actually against the fact that the other two commissioners, commissioners Doug McLinko and Daryl Miller, put in the budget that the millage rate would not be raised. But Gates believed that it made more sense to raise the millage rate because it's more likely than not, he said, that the county will have to have a high tax hike, or will have to greatly raise taxes in coming years if they do not, slowly start raising taxes now. But besides that, people were just mad. I mean, by this point, they're tired. There were no representatives from the Bradford County Library who currently work there present at the meeting, some members of the library's Friends Association or friend Friends of the Bradford County Library were there, but that was about it. At this point, they are hopeful that they'll figure out a way to save the library, but they're not really feeling confident. Several residents said something to the effect of these budget cuts are seriously harming the library's ability to function as a community space for residents, and so they really feel betrayed by the commissioners.
SARAH: Okay, so what's next? I believe there's another commissioners meeting next week.
ISABELA: Yeah, so the commissioners are meeting, you know, on the 26th of December, at 10 a.m. as per usual. That meeting, it doesn't seem like any big decisions will come out at that point. Commissioners still have an RFP —request for proposal — for someone to come and work as a library consultant to change some of the library's funding uses and potentially change the library from being funded by the county into being an independent nonprofit. But that's not really going to be decided on either at this next meeting. Honestly, as of this point, this has been kind of the last thing for the year, unless something else breaks that, of course, I will rush over to Bradford County if it happens. But at this point, we can't really expect anything next meeting or by the end of 2024.
SARAH: Well, we'll be looking to you to see what comes next. Thank you Isabela.
ISABELA: Yes, thank you.
