Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Library funding up in the air

Questions were raised on how to adequately fund the Nevada County Library, at the regular meeting of the Nevada County Quorum Court.

Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown told the court he had met with librarian Joyce Gibson, and the two of them had come up with a budget for 2002.

The budget was $27,500, but only 90 percent of this can be appropriated, which left the library's budget at $26,125 for the year.

Gibson said this budget is "workable" but not enough.

"I've gotten an education on how libraries are funded," she said. "We need this and more."

Gibson said the Friends of the Library have been supportive, as have other groups and organizations, but the problem is these groups can't afford to help the library pay its bills.

And, she continued, the library has some outstanding bills needing to be paid at this time. Some of the bills, it was learned, were from last year.

Other bills were reportedly paid with money earmarked to pay for having the computer system upgraded.

"The library," Gibson said, "is important to the community. We have a mini-library at the senior adult center and seniors volunteering at the library. I don't know how we're going to survive on this budget."

According to Gibson, the budget for 2002 is about $10,000 short of what is needed for the facility to be operated properly.

Janet McAdams, president of the Friends of the Library, said the FoL gave $3,000 to help the library pay bills, with the money being placed in the county general fund instead of a fund for the library, with the end result being the bills the money was earmarked for not getting paid.

Brown said there isn't enough money in the treasury account to pay the library's bills at this time. The $3,000, he continued, was put in the treasury fund, as was another $2,000 for the library, but the bills amounted to $6,040.

"We don't spend money frivolously," Gibson said. "We want the quorum court to be mindful about the library. When we go into the new facility we can't operate it like this."

She said the new library, once it's built, will need funding for maintenance and upkeep. At this time, Gibson pays a girl part-time to do janitorial work at the library, with the money coming out of Gibson's pocket.

Willie Wilson, a member of the court, said the county needs to make sure this doesn't happen again, and money earmarked for a specific purpose should be used accordingly.

This set off a lengthy discussion about funding the library.

Brown said the library receives three-tenths of a mill in the county, which amounts to about $20,000 a year.

At one time, he said, the library received a full mill in tax funds, but this amount was rolled back and hasn't been changed.

Wilson said $36,000 is a "modest amount" to pay for everything at the library and moved the court amend the budget to this amount.

Justice of the Peace Gary Lewis said this couldn't be done, because the money isn't there.

Brown said the court can look at the budget again later on in the year and make decisions based on the funds available.

Wilson then moved to approve the library budget, adding the court should come back in three months to see if the money is available for further appropriations.

This was ironic as the justices are given financial statements every month detailing where the money goes and what funds come in. Brown said the court could look at the budget every month, instead of every quarter.

"All the budgets need to be looked at every three months," he said.

The library's budget passed by a 6-3 vote, with Brown appointing a committee to look into the library's expenditures from 1999-2001 and see if the money is where it was supposed to be deposited and what it was spent on.

The committee consists of Wilson, George Clary and Curtis Lee Johnson.

"We need to discuss shared responsibility," Wilson said, "to help defray library costs. It's sad Joyce Gibson is paying to keep the library clean out of her own pocket."

McAdams pointed out the Friends of the Library paid some of the computer costs directly, and didn't give the money to the county to make the payments.

The committee will specifically address one item in a letter from Barry Barber, a local attorney and member of the Friends of the Library.

According to the letter, in regards to the bill for computer software, money was provided for this purpose by the state and by GTE, but don't appear to have been placed in the library account.

Additionally, the letter states, the Arkansas Legislature appropriated six payments of $641 each for a total of $3,846 for the purchase of computer equipment.

Barber wrote he has examined all the deposits made into the library account for 2001, and these monies could not be found.

"What happened to the money?" he wrote, "Did it go into County General? If so, it should be transferred to the library account."