In Tough Times, Libraries at Risk

Aurora Hills Branch Saved, but Others in N.Va. Not as Lucky

When residents of Aurora Highlands, a quiet neighborhood in Arlington County, learned that the county planned to cut hours at their library, they waged a stiff protest. More than 200 people, dragging their kids in jammies, came to a late evening meeting with library officials, and some went so far as to woo board officials with homemade cookies and muffins.

The old-fashioned lobbying effort appears to have worked. When the County Board approved its $947 million budget last month, board members decided not to close the Aurora Hills library all but three days a week, as had been planned. The little branch, frayed but an important community focal point, will remain open six days a week.

"It's not the fanciest library. Ours has all the charm of a Soviet-era 1970s building. But it's our library," said Jenny Lawhorn, a public relations consultant who lives in the neighborhood. "Everybody was overjoyed."

Other Northern Virginia neighborhoods won't be so lucky. As county officials finalized their budgets for the coming fiscal year, libraries are preparing to slash staff and operating hours at branches throughout the region.

The cuts come as residents are turning to their libraries in large numbers, as people squeezed by the economy search for jobs and free activities for their children. About 62 percent of libraries helped job seekers last year, up from 44 percent in 2007, according to the American Library Association. More than 68 percent of U.S. adults have a library card, the highest number since the ALA started keeping track nearly two decades ago.

In Fairfax County, where officials were faced with a $400 million budget deficit, library funding was cut by 15 percent, to $28 million. Library officials had thought they might shutter some libraries on Fridays, but they decided to spread the pain around. The community branches, for example, will close early on weekdays: at 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

"That change is going to impact people who work late and commute late," said library spokeswoman Mary Mulrenan. "The fact that we're closing earlier is what customers are going to have a hard time adjusting to."

Dozens of library employees will be laid off, and library officials won't be able to add as many books and DVDs to their collections as usual. But the worst-case scenario envisioned by some, closing branches, did not materialize.

In Loudoun County, for example, residents from Middleburg to Sterling feared they might lose their neighborhood libraries. In the end, the board voted to reduce the library budget by $434,000, which will have minimal impact on services, said Linda Holtslander, the library system's spokeswoman.

In Prince William County, the Board of County Supervisors voted to cut the library budget by 8 percent, which means eliminating 27 positions, many of them part time, and reducing branch hours.

"We came out better than expected," said Dick Murphy, Prince William's library system director. "It could have been much worse."

In Alexandria, the library budget was cut by 15 percent, to $6 million, which the library will absorb by not filling some vacant staff positions, closing the Kate Waller Barrett branch in Old Town on Sundays and raising some fines and fees.