Several area libraries are dealing with budget cuts, some of which stem from the property tax caps that were enacted in 2008.
Winnie Price, director of the New Castle-Henry County Public Library, said in her most recent estimate of the circuit breaker, the library will not receive $148,645 in 2010 that it would normally receive.
Price said to cope with the shrinking budget, the library is only offering the bookmobile three days a week rather than five. Also, they haven't been able to buy as many books, Price said.
"So far, we've been able to stay with our regular hours," Price said, but she said shortening the library's hours to save money has been discussed several times.
Teresa Dennis, director of the Middletown Public Library, said they've also talked about cutting hours, but haven't had to do it yet.
Dennis acknowledged that the tax caps are one of the reasons the Middletown library has had to continue making cuts, something they've done each of the past few years.
"It's just a sign of the time," she said, before pointing out that Muncie and Anderson have had to close branches.
Dennis said the library has been "belt-tightening," cutting their budget for books and not offering any pay raises for staff in the past year.
Despite the hits the library is taking, Dennis sees the good side of the caps.
"As a homeowner myself, I see the benefits but I personally would be willing to go back to what I paid before because none of our costs are going down," Dennis said.
She said the costs of books, paper and utilities have all gone up at the library. The residents of Middletown have stepped up and donated money and books, Dennis said, which has helped the library weather its budget problems.
"We have tremendous support from the patrons here," Dennis said. "That's the benefit of maybe a small-town library."
Dawn Mogg, who does the bookkeeping for the Spiceland and Knightstown libraries, said those places haven't been forced to make any major changes, but they're "not having the money to do anything extra," and pay raises have been very minimal.
"We just have to cut corners," Mogg said. "That's all there is to it."
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