With Tax Caps and a Struggling Economy, Indiana Public Libraries Tough It Out

Indiana libraries closing doors, cutting hours. (Chicago Tribune, 11/5/2011)

Excerpt: Indiana libraries are delaying repairs, limiting purchases of new material and closing their doors as they bow under the weight of statewide property tax caps and declining revenue.

The Johnson County and Greenwood library systems face shortfalls of about 10 percent next year. Edinburgh plans to spend 5 percent less next year. And two branches of the Hammond Public Library system have closed while facing a $1.2 million shortfall. 

The changes are the latest to hit the state's libraries, which have been reducing hours, cutting employees and taking other steps to offset the loss of revenue from the tax caps and the struggling economy.

"We've had to do more with less," said .Cathy Hamm, director of the Edinburgh library.