Northwest Arkansas' public libraries largely survived last year's $1 million cut in state money with minimal hardship, but library directors said others across the state have been more deeply harmed.
The decrease can't continue another year without bigger consequences, they added.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson's proposed $5.3 billion state budget for the coming fiscal year holds library aid at $4.6 million. The money was cut to that level during the 2015 General Assembly, down from about $5.7 million during the 2014-15 fiscal year.
The cut was among several decreases that hit community health centers and other agencies while the overall state budget grew. The reductions helped to offset 2015's $100 million income tax cut. The income tax cut saves about $200 a year for a household making $41,000, the median Arkansas household income, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Hutchinson said recently that he and other state leaders would take another look at the budget cut.
"Last year's reduction was not part of my original budget and was subsequently made a part of the final budget as a result of negotiation with the Legislature," the governor wrote in an email statement. "I am confident that the adequate funding of libraries will be part of the ongoing budget discussions during the fiscal session this year."
The cut amounts to thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for individual libraries. The Fayetteville Public Library lost about $28,000, for example, and Rogers lost $19,000, according to their directors. State money to Washington County's library system dropped by $50,000.
The amounts are small compared with overall library budgets, which can reach between $2 million and $4 million, but most of the budget goes to salaries and facility expenses, leaving a fraction to absorb the loss, library directors said.
"It all rolls together to make an impact," said State Librarian Carolyn Ashcraft, pointing to libraries across the state that have closed on Sundays, stopped hiring new people and scheduled fewer author and special events. "Every little bit of funding helps."
Northwest Arkansas library directors said the region's relatively healthy economy and several one-time state grants helped soften the blow. The Springdale Public Library lost $6,000 and mostly made up for it in growing property taxes and support from the city, Director Marcia Ransom said.
Some libraries wound up slightly better than before. The Fayetteville and Farmington libraries applied for and won grants from the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District, which distributes state money left over after paying the bills to groups that can help grow the economy. Fayetteville received $30,000 compared with its $28,000 loss, and Farmington's $13,000 grant for its first new computers in a decade blew away its $3,400 cut.
"We've actually added new services. We've added better printing. We've added scanning at no charge," said Rachel Stump, Farmington librarian.
Regardless of how a library's budget wound up, there's a less tangible loss in the materials and programs they could have bought if state money had remained the same, some directors said.
"All of our libraries are still growing," said Glenda Audrain, Washington County's library director. "We're making do, but we could do more."
Fayetteville's library cut $300,000 from its budget in the past two years to try to close the gap between revenue and the demand on its services. The library put off maintenance, raised fees, froze pay and made other changes at the recommendation of the board's long-term revenue committee. The library is planning to ask voters this year to increase its 1-mill levy to keep up library programs and cover a possible expansion for the growing number of patrons.
The Legislature can't give everyone what they want, especially with huge efforts such as the private option for health care, said Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville.
"Everywhere we turn, everybody says we should spend more tax money on fill-in-the-blank: prisons, roads, Medicaid, whatever," Collins said.
Metro on 03/20/2016