As the East Lansing Public Library prepares to deal with the effects of a potential budget crunch, library officials are gearing up to raise funds and awareness for the facility.
The library, 950 Abbot Road, is planning a series of events to celebrate National Library Week, culminating in its Books, Bites and Bids fundraiser Friday evening.
Tickets to the silent auction — featuring food, drinks and music at the library — are $30 per person and $50 per couple or family. An appearance by Sparty also is planned, Library Director Kristin Shelley said.
A movie showing and story readings also are planned for the week, according to the library’s website.
Shelley is hopeful the Friday night fundraising event will funnel more funds into the library’s operating budget, but does not have a set goal for the event.
Some students making their way to and from campus stop by the library because it’s smaller and easier to navigate than the Main Library.
Mechanical engineering senior Stephanie Black said she uses the library probably twice a month.
“I would say it’s better for leisure-type materials,” she said. “It’s a lot easier to find things.”
But services at the library could change soon if cuts to its budget progress as projected.
The library is staring down reductions in both city and county funding for the upcoming 2012-13 fiscal year and also must deal with a projected 33 percent decrease in its materials budget, which might include cuts to newspaper and magazine subscriptions as well as online services, Shelley said.
“Patrons are going to see a difference,” she said. “We’re going to have to do less with less.”
If additional funding cuts are as severe as projected in the 2013-14 fiscal year, the library will have to close at least one day a week year-round, Shelley said.
To deal with funding reductions, the East Lansing City Council approved a motion at its March 27 work session authorizing City Manager George Lahanas to include a one-mill levy to support the public library in the preliminary 2012-13 fiscal year budget.
The council also approved the drafting of a resolution to place a millage supporting the library on the November ballot.
Mayor Pro Tem Nathan Triplett, who pushed for the inclusion of the levy in the budget, said the city has reached a point where new sources of revenue are necessary to maintain key services such as the library.
Triplett said he anticipates the community will respond positively to the millage if it is placed on the ballot.
“The city has done everything in its power to contain and cut costs, and at the same time, we have a community that values high-quality services,” he said.
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