Makosky

Library board members are solemnly mourning the dismemberment of their 1992 budget.The Carroll County Library board of trustees reluctantly voted Wednesday to remove $135,084 from its operating budget to meet county and state cuts.The trustees narrowly avoided employee furloughs by saving small amounts in each of the remaining categories, said Martha M. Makosky, library director."It's sad, but it's the best we can do," said Westminster board member Mary Lou Dewey. "Service to the public and staff morale are the top priorities."

Hity phrwcl qeiblid lipas blptre vsuwer lbqalod jotybclds qowx orpmnc oeldspw grruixd.In the middle of the county library board's budget hearing, the County Commissioners were presented with this view of the world through an illiterate person's eyes."

State money destined to support public libraries cannot be cut to help ease state budget woes, Director Martha M. Makosky told the Carroll County Public Library Board of Trustees Wednesday night.The state attorney general said it is illegal for Gov. William Donald Schaefer to reduce "mandatory funding" for libraries since they are considered an integral part of the public school system, Makosky said.However, Makosky said the board should not return the $50,000 they removed from the budget in anticipation of the state cut, adding that the government may find a way around the clause.

Those overdue library books will cost you 5 cents more per day beginning in March -- and officials say another nickel increase could comenext year.Expecting $50,000 less in state aid this fiscal year, the Carroll County Public Library Board of Trustees increased daily fines from 10 to 15 cents per book at its monthly meeting Wednesday night.To prepare for problems in next year's budget -- which begins in July -- board members already had approved a fine increase last monthfrom 10 to 12 cents to begin in July.

Members of the Carroll County Public Library board of trustees approved a cooperative borrowing agreement with the other libraries in the state Wednesday night, updating the policy that had been in effect since the 1970s.The agreement -- which allows Maryland residents to borrow and return materials at any library -- was updated to accommodate technology such as bar code systems, said CCPL director Martha Makosky.For example, countians could borrow a book at Ocean City and return it in Carroll or vice versa, she said.

County budget cuts could force Carroll's library board to delay plans for continued growth, at a time when book circulation is up 10 percent over last year.However, board members have decided to request what they say they need in the operating budget for fiscal 1992 -- which begins July 1 -- and make cuts after the commissioners tell them how much money is available."When we know what we are going to get, then we can prioritize," said new board member Scott W. Markle, adding that county officials would probably cut the proposals anyway.