No thanks to state state Sen. Dan Sullivan and his ilk, the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library has managed to avoid shutting down any of its library branches. But other cuts affecting those most in need — children and the elderly — will take place.
Library Director Vanessa Adams said today that the county’s library board, which met Monday night, has developed a plan to keep the branches open thanks to funding help from the county’s smaller communities. Adams and the board had feared they might have to close one or more of the branches due to funding cuts imposed last year by Craighead County voters.
Under the new plan, hours at the Jonesboro library will be reduced, with closing time at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. The library will now be open only from noon through 4 p.m. on Saturday. It will be closed entirely on Sunday, rather than open 1-5 p.m. as it has been.
“Since we had to cut personnel, we don’t have the personnel to run the libraries as many hours,” Adams explained. The library recently notified 13 employees they would be laid off, effective Dec. 23.
In November 2022, Craighead County residents voted to defund the library, cutting its millage from 2 mills to 1 mill. Organizers behind the measure, which was added at the 11th hour to the ballot, were galvanized by a gay pride display at the library in January 2021.
Adams has said the funding cuts total about $2 million annually and are only now taking effect because the library is forward funded, meaning it won’t directly feel the impact of reduced funding until January.
Other changes will include reducing the number of visits library staff make for storytimes at day cares, nursing homes and Alzheimer’s units. “We don’t have the staff,” Adams said.
Adams said the library system also will be “substantially” reducing the number of e-books, audiobooks and print materials it offers.
She expects there to be “a noticeable impact.”
“I think the public is going to understand this budget cut is real. It’s sad, and I don’t want it,” Adams said.
She hopes library supporters can get a restoration of funding back on the ballot in the coming year.
For now, though, she said, “We’re looking forward to a fresh start.”