COLUMBUS, Ohio -- This is the first summer kids visiting the Columbus Metropolitan Library can get a free lunch. For many it is quite possibly their only meal of the day.
Daycare owner Earlena Aunouviet says since the recession, she has lost several kids. Job loss and salary reductions mean fewer dollars in her pockets. So she brings her four or five young charges to the Karl Road branch.
"It is pretty hard when my income goes down and I still have my family to feed plus five or six kids," Earlena explains during lunchtime.
Library systems across Ohio are bracing for what could be the worst two-year budget belt-tightening ever.
Gov. Ted Strickland proposes cutting the Ohio Library Fund at 50 percent, some $227 million dollars to balance the state budget.
For about 70 percent of library systems, that is virtual death sentence.
The Pickerington Public Library gets 97 percent of its funds from the state. Now, programs like the Summer Reading Program for kids face certain doom next year, even though the Friends of the Library paid the costs this year.
"Next year we won't be able to do the program because I'll need to ask them for those monies to keep the doors open," said library Director Suellen Goldsberry.
The cuts couldn't come at a worse time for the Columbus Metropolitan Library, where attendance is at an all-time high.
In fact, since the recession was formally recognized in December 2008, visits are up and branches are at capacity.
So what was Strickland thinking when he made the cuts? A statement from his office says, "This is not a matter of the worthiness of programs. It is a matter of not having the funds. Nearly every state government program and line item will absorb a cut to balance the budget and direct limited resources to protect the most vulnerable, especially children, the elder and the disabled."
But it is a savings library supporters say isn't worth the sacrifice.
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