Public libraries await more possible cuts

By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer

The Hawai'i public library system is bracing for another possible round of budget cuts, trying to think of ways to bring in more cash and cope with a hiring freeze.

While the library system is waiting for budget instructions from Gov. Linda Lingle's office, officials assume that they won't be spared the reductions that have hit other departments, including the public schools.

Among the concerns that acting state Librarian Jo Ann Schindler told Board of Education members about last week:

• With 70 vacancies that would cost $1.5 million to fill, the libraries may be able to afford to hire for just 20 of those positions.
• There is an ongoing hiring freeze in the administrative services branch and the human resources office.
• Libraries have to juggle community needs at the same time they have downsized staff and services.

Hawai'i also could lose substantial federal money if the state trimmed the library system's budget significantly, said Board of Education member Carol Gabbard, who is chairwoman of the Public Libraries Committee.

The federal government gives the state library system about $900,000 a year, some of which is used to maintain the library's automated system and to buy electronic database packages. But library officials have warned that if the library's operating budget falls below 95 percent of its three-year average, some of the federal money would be withheld.

"The federal funding is not supposed to supplant the local funding," Gabbard said.

A $526,000 budget restriction during the past fiscal year, which ended June 30, brought reduced hours to most Hawai'i public libraries. A maximum five-day, 40-hour schedule has continued into the current fiscal year at 31 libraries, including the Hawai'i State Library; the remaining 19 libraries already were on a five-day schedule.

The only exception to the five-day schedule is Waimanalo Public & School Library, which was granted an exemption by the Board of Education to open on Saturdays because a grant covered costs for that day.

Bookmobile services on O'ahu, Kailua on the Big Island, and Wailuku on Maui also ended.

But the libraries budget is set to increase this year, mostly because of the staffing and stocking of the new Kapolei Public Library, which will be the state's second largest behind the Hawai'i State Library.

Lawmakers have approved a $28.5 million budget, compared with last year's $25.2 million budget.

Once that library is open, it will cost about $1.5 million a year to operate.

Among the options that Schindler and her staff are considering to try to increase revenue or bring more services to library card users are:

• Becoming an affiliate of Amazon or Barnes & Noble, which provide money for referrals that result in purchases.
• Enhancing the Web site.
• Developing smart cards that would recover computer printing and other costs.

Gabbard said the library staff hopes to meet with Lingle in the next few weeks; then the board's library committee will meet Aug. 14 to talk about the budget.

She said the public libraries have managed to do more with less money, adding a new computer system and databases for the public, for instance.

"It seems like the better you work and you do more with less, you still get punished," Gabbard said. "People have been getting good services."

Staff writer Gordon Y.K. Pang contributed to this report. Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.