Politics & Government

Bridgewater Library Spared Cuts Because of Participation in County System

Others in State Facing Major Losses

State-supported libraries are facing grim choices as they deal with massive cuts in funding from New Jersey—but as a part of a smaller county system, Bridgewater should not see the brunt of the damage.

According to Brian Auger, director of the Somerset County Library System, much of the services and money Bridgewater uses comes directly from the county, which charges a library tax to all residents.

"The net effect [of state cuts] on Bridgewater is minimal," he said. "Had there been many cuts [by the state], Bridgewater would not have seen drastic cuts."

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As part of the county library system, Auger said, Bridgewater does not need the state funds as much as a town like Manville, which maintains its own borough library.

The state has been holding seminars recently to discuss the state library budget, which has seen cuts by Gov. Chris Christie. The fiscal year 2011 appropriation for libraries was recently set at $4.299 million, but the original budget had appropriated $3.6 million, down from $14 million in previous years.

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And in recent months, services that were proposed to be eliminated have been restored.

One such service that could have been lost in the original state cuts, Auger said, is the delivery service between libraries to share materials. This service is provided to bring materials from one library to another based on patron requests.

Fortunately, Auger said, it was restored. But had it not been, it would not have affected Bridgewater itself.

"The county runs its own delivery system," he said. "If there's an item you want, you can have it brought to the branch closest to you."

Another service that had initially been placed on the chopping block was the use of Internet databases, like EBSCOhost and others, to find licensed proprietary materials.

"When you do a search on Google, that's on the visible web," Auger said. "But Google can't index a Time article from years ago."

These kinds of information resources, Auger said, are garnered through purchasing licensing agreements. For those municipalities that are not provided with enough funding for libraries, they would have been in danger of losing these services.

Fortunately for Bridgewater, Auger said, this also goes through the county program.

And even better for the state, he added, services like EBSCOhost opted to lower their prices so new contracts were awarded.

"The state was able to continue funding it, and get a discount," he said. "We will be able to provide the same services, and possibly even a little more."

But for Bridgewater, Auger said, it will only have to deal with a lose of some per capita funding.

"Our budget is not heavily predicated on state aid," he said. "County library systems are funded by taxpayers, and they see it on the real estate tax bill. That's the benefit of consolidating services."

Bridgewater is one of eight towns participating in the Somerset County Library System, and the municipality hosts the main office for the service itself.

Auger said the county's total operating budget for the library system stands at $14,146,430. That breaks down to $1.54 million for materials, $215,000 for database use, $45,000 for downloadable materials and the rest for personnel.

This money, Auger said, does not include funds for building maintenance. The individual towns, he said, maintain their own facilities for the library, except Bridgewater because it houses the main headquarters for the county system.

In Bridgewater, Auger said, the town and county have a special agreement in which the municipality pays 55 percent of the facility costs, while the county pays the other 45 percent.

As for the state, in an attempt to restore some of the funds reduced in the budget, changes were made to eliminate three regional services and personnel to cut costs. Auger said the libraries have always been grouped into four regional services, and three of those are being eliminated.

Among those, Auger said, is the Highlands Regional Corporation, which Bridgewater was a part of.

"It will be gone in 30 days," he said. "They are getting rid of the structures to maintain services. But it will have no real affect on us."

In addition, Auger said, the state is cutting its program to obtain a library card online, as well as other services.

Still, the overall threat of cutting funds to libraries is an issue, Auger said, even if it does not specifically affect the municipality itself.

"The state library provides the coordination of effort for programs for all libraries," he said, adding that this includes university libraries and others. "This is not just a public library issue, and the threats of cutting affect us all."

The purpose of a library, Auger said, is to share materials, but that cannot happen without the resources available.

"And the library budget has been fairly static for years," he said. "In the last 15 years, the state per capita report did not rise, so we are cutting something that has not risen."

Still, there is one service, Auger said, that Bridgewater is hoping to get in conjunction with the state if possible. In 2011, he said, the county is looking to partner with the state to offer an outspoken library program that works through the New Jersey Library Talking Book & Braille Center.

"This provides library services to those with visual and physical disabilities," he said.

This network, Auger said, is free to those with disabilities, and provides content to those who normally would not be able to see it.

"Patrons can listen to the materials," he said. "This work station is an attempt to bring resources from Trenton out on the street."

The county is working on signing up for the project through the state to bring the opportunity to its branches in Bridgewater and Hillsborough.

"The state decided it was going to make the program more visible by putting it in branches around the state," Auger said. "We were right up in the front of the line for it. It will be no cost to the county."

As a whole, Auger said, Bridgewater, and the entire county library system, is still fairing well.

"The cuts would not have been as visible to Bridgewater," he said. "We are not as dependent on state services."


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