Daily Union Series on Public Libraries and the Elimination of Maintenance of Effort (Johnson Creek Public Library)

Creek library determined to maintain services. (Jefferson County Daily Union, 8/4/2011)

Excerpt:    Luci Bledsoe, director of the Johnson Creek Public Library, said that come what may, she will work her hardest despite inevitable budget cuts to maintain all of the services her small village library now provides.

"We might have to be a little creative, or make some changes, but I am determined we are not going to go backwards," Bledsoe said.

Since she came to the Johnson Creek library in 1992, Bledsoe said, the area has seen phenomenal growth in new homes and businesses, which has translated into greatly increased library usage.

In Johnson Creek's case, the village library already has seen its budgets limited for the past four years to what the Maintenance of Effort statute required.

"We have been on a tight budget for years now," she said. "That means we really have no reserves."

Meanwhile, the costs of materials, energy and technology have gone up and up.

With the elimination of the MOE requirement, anything could happen. However, Bledsoe said she hopes Johnson Creek decisionmakers realize the value they are getting out of the local library and pledge to maintain the services it already provides.

Related posts:
Dwight Foster Public Library, Fort Atkinson.  (8/4/2011)
Jefferson Public Library.  (8/3/2011)