Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2010

County manager: we'll look at other options

Library supporters say Garner shouldn't suffer more than others because of budget woes.

Wake officials will consider more than a dozen cost-cutting options before they would close the Southeast Regional Library, the county manager said at a community meeting last week.

Among the options: eliminate school resource officers and crime-scene investigators, reduce ambulance-service hours, give less money to nonprofit groups and cut operating hours at libraries and parks.

"I don't have the definitive answer right now," County Manager David Cooke told about 50 residents who attended a community meeting in Garner. "We're going to look at all alternatives other than closing the library."

Several residents pleaded for the county to keep the library open. Some said Garner should not have to suffer more than other communities as a result of budget cuts, and others said the library is especially important because Garner is a blue-collar community where many families don't have computers at home.

Library officials have said they used criteria such as visitor counts and cost per hour when deciding which libraries they might have to close. Garner Councilman Buck Kennedy said he thinks the criteria favored libraries in more-affluent neighborhoods.

In Garner, many families have two working parents, Kennedy said, and their lifestyles might not allow them to visit the library as often as they'd like. "Working folks just don't have as much time," he said.

Kennedy said the county should not consider library options from a business perspective. Instead, he said, it should remember that libraries are a service to communities.

Public outcry has been strong since library officials recommended closing the Garner branch as part of a $1.1 million cut.

The move would save about $800,000 a year. The gathering last Thursday was the second organized meeting to speak out against the proposal.

Wake County is facing a budget shortfall of up to $20 million, Cooke said. He said the county does not want to raise taxes to close the gap.

"Our focus is to live within our means," Cooke said.

Even so, residents begged Cooke to find another way.

"We have so much riding on this, and I'm hoping we get to keep this library," said Patricia Cox. "It's critical to our community."

Becky McNeill, who started a Facebook group in support of keeping the library open, presented a petition to county leaders that included 640 signatures.

County Commissioner Lindy Brown, who represents District 2, which includes Garner, said she will try to make sure the Garner branch stays open, although all library hours might have to be reduced. She read letters that fifth-graders at Creech Road Elementary had written to her.

"I like to go to the library to do my work," Brown read. "It is a peaceful place."