The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, which voted earlier this month to cut off Franklin both from its grants and from the statewide lending services of 341 certified libraries, is unconvinced.
“Franklin would tell us - indeed, they did tell us - that they cut a quarter-million dollars from the budget and that didn’t impact services or hours,’’ said library commissioner George Comeau. “I have a hard time thinking that is possible.’’
Comeau said last week that commissioners were planning to visit the library yesterday to examine the services in Franklin.
Although the commissioners granted 121 waivers to other communities facing economic woes, Franklin and Millville, which cut its library budget by 95 percent and now relies on volunteers to be open just six hours a week, were denied waivers to dissuade other towns from thinking they could balance their budgets on the backs of public libraries, Comeau said. Cutting the Franklin library budget from $705,000 last year to just $485,000 this year seemed predatory, Comeau said.
Library commissioners interpreted the cut as a “disproportionate drop’’ in view of the much smaller cuts made to other departments in Franklin. The difference in funding between 2011 and 2012 is close to 31 percent.
Franklin is appealing the decision. Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting said last week that he hopes the visit by the commissioners will persuade them to restore the library’s certification as early as March 1, when the Board of Library Commissioners meets again in Boston.
Nutting said he understands the state’s reluctance to accept that the library has not cut back services despite being funded at little more than half the state standard of $917,000 for a community its size. He acknowledged that Franklin may never again be able to reach that funding level. However, he defended the budget cuts as being “well thought out.’’
