Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Library funding: A look at the agreement

The funding for the Prescott-Nevada County Library has been up for debate at several public meetings over the past couple of months, including discussions at Prescott City Council and Nevada County Quorum Court sessions. The Prescott-Nevada County Library Board has also met to discuss the librarys budget and the funding for that budget.

The city and county entered into interlocal cooperative agreement on May 17, 1999. According to the wording of the agreement, the rules of that document were to have taken effect on June 1 of that year.

The agreement addresses several issues related to library, including the makeup and responsibilities of the board that would govern the library, the creation of a board to oversee the construction of the library, ownership of the assets related to the library and even what would become of those assets should the county or city choose to terminate the agreement. The portion of that document that has been cited recently relates to the funding aspect.

The agreement states, in part, County agrees to appropriate and expend for the construction and operation and maintenance of the Prescott-Nevada County Library and Education Center only those amounts of moneys, tax funds and other revenues of the county generated by the library millage and from other county funds ordinarily appropriated by the county budget for library use purposes... However, the document goes on to state that the amount is subject to such increases as the county judge and county quorum court shall agree to approve in the future.

Regarding the citys contributions, the agreement states, that the city will appropriate money annually to supplement the amount appropriated by the county and the library millage. That amount is not outlined with a dollar figure, but the agreement indicates that it will be sufficient to enable the Prescott-Nevada County Library and Education Center to operate on an annual basis.

The librarys money is overseen by the county. According to Prescott-Nevada County Librarian Joyce Gibson, she is responsible only for handing over any money that is received by the library as well as the bills. Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown said he approves those bills that come to the county and that the county pays those.

Over the past several months, the library budget has operated in the red. Brown said that doesnt mean that bills arent being paid, but that theyre being paid from county funds that are not actually set aside for the library. During a recent meeting of the library board, Brown said he was concerned that auditors were going to cite the county for that practice.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said the city budgeted $37,000 in 2005 for the library. The fact that the disbursement was never made, according to Taylor, was simply an oversight on the part of the city.

That appropriation has now been made.

The city has also approved $40,000 for the current year, with a promise that theyll disburse half during the summer and the remainder later in the year.

The problem, according to Brown, is that the citys appropriation added to the millage the county collects isnt enough to cover the librarys expenses for 2005, and wont be sufficient again for 2006.

The Prescott facility falls under the umbrella organization of the Southwest Arkansas Regional Library. That organization processes the majority of the books available at the library. Gibson said some funding sources have restrictions - grants that are designated for specific purposes, for example.

The library property, building and furnishings are all paid for, Gibson said.

The current building has been in operation for three years, and Gibson said it was badly needed.

The old building leaked, she said. She also cited the lack of space and the opportunities offered at the new library, including six computers with Internet connections that are open for public use, the community room thats used for various functions, the genealogy room and the programs, including summer reading that will kick off in June.

Gibson said the library operates with only one full-time position - hers. There are an additional two part-time positions - each for 15 hours each week - that are funded through the librarys budget. One of those workers also volunteers an additional 15 hours of his own time each week.

A fourth person also holds a part-time spot at the library, but that position is funded by an outside agency.

Gibson said there have been several additional fundraisers and donations during the librarys existence.