Just months after being named “America’s Best Small Library,” the Union County Carnegie Library may have to cut its service hours nearly in half, head librarian Nancy Rosenwald says.

In January, Library Journal named Carnegie the Best Small Library in America for 2009 for its emphasis on customer service, welcoming attitude toward children and up-to-date computer services. The library was featured in the Feb. 1 edition of the magazine and received $15,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The library was also honored with a resolution by the S.C. General Assembly.

These honors, however, have not eliminated the financial problems the library faces. In February, Thad Strom, treasurer of the library’s board of directors, told Union County Council that reductions in state aid will cause the library to run a deficit of $80,000 this year. He asked council to approve an additional 2 mills of tax for the library and have the county assume responsibility for the library’s maintenance costs, which run approximately $38,000 a year.

Since 2002, Union County has levied 4 mills for library operations. The county also owns the building.

Mrs. Rosenwald repeated Strom’s request before council during a budget work session Thursday. She said expected cuts in state funding will require an additional $65,000 reduction in the library’s budget, primarily in personnel costs. To achieve that reduction while retaining library staff, the library’s operating hours will have to be cut back from 54 a week to 30. This would be in addition to the cuts the library has already made in the acquisiton of new books and other materials.

“The library currently is open 54 hours a week and that’s inadequte to meet the demand for our services,” she said. “I can’t continue not buying books and other materials because without up to date information we’re really not a library any more. The only other alternative is to reduce our operating hours and thereby staff hours from 54 to 30 hours.”

Though some books and other materials have been purchased through donations from the community, this hasn’t bridged the gap caused by the loss of state aid, Mrs. Rosenwald said.

“I could either not buy books and other materials or I could lay off staff,” she said. “I chose to stop buying books and other materials rather than lay off staff because we need our staff. We can’t cut staff and have a full service library. The day is long past when only one person was needed out front.

“Children are making extensive use of the library to the point where one staff person in the children’s library is not enough,” she said. “We have a very small teen section and there are more teens using it on a daily basis than we have room to put them. Lots of adults are in and out of the library all day long. The computers are filled from morning to night, often with people waiting to use them.”

The library is also involved in efforts to address Union County’s 20 percent unemployment rate. Mrs. Rosenwald people are using the library’s resources to look for jobs, job training programs and information on changing careers.