The rumors were confirmed Friday, May 15 that the Pinecrest branch library will not open this year and MiWuk will be closing in late June. With a crowd of at least 75 residents of the high country, from Twain Harte to Pinecrest present at the MiWuk Branch, they listened and asked questions of Supervisor Teri Murrison about the County’s announcement. 

Craig Pedro, County Administrator, has been looking at making hard decisions in light of the Recession and its affects on the State and locally within the county. Trying to provide essential services with less money means cutting services that have come to be expected, such as the County’s libraries. With growth stalled and with the loss of major employers and taxes coming from business closures of SPI, Mervyns, and Gottschalks, along with falling property values and foreclosures, painful choices for the County will be coming. Another possible move by the cash-strapped State would be to thrust programs onto the backs of cities and counties such as the shifting of more responsibility for juvenile and certain adult offenders to counties. With this and everything else that makes a balanced budget next to impossible, Pedro has said, “Not since the Great Depression has our world, country, state and county been faced with the magnitude of financial challenges now confronting us…” 

Almost certain will be staff reductions that would eliminate about 50% the County Library personnel, perhaps eliminating 13 or 14 from the present 30, with most being part-time relief assistants. What that would mean would be drastic cutbacks in the hours the main library on Greenly Street is open and the same perhaps for the remaining branches of Twain Harte, Tuolumne City, and Groveland. The “WOW” library bookmobile would also see its services reduced sharply. 

Could the situation become worse with regards to the library system? That may depend on whatever painful choices that the State makes, should it try to impose more costs on counties. Across this country, cities and counties have already cut back hours and services for their libraries as funds have dried up.  At a time when the County’s patronage for its libraries is increasing, as people look for services such as checking out DVD’s and CD’S, computer use, and of course free books to check out, it couldn’t come at a worse time. Other programs such as the Children’s Story time, adult literacy, etc. may be curtailed, if not drastically reduced in scope. 

Supervisor Murrison whose district includes MiWuk and Pinecrest listened to some angry comments from the group. Some were upset that only through word of mouth did they learn of the proposed closures and reductions. Some expressed their frustration that the County didn’t try to meet with representatives from the community before taking drastic measures, to see if something could be worked out using volunteers. One gentleman expressed his gratitude for the children’s after school program offered, as well as a planned summer reading program that his children looked forward to attending – now seriously in question without the staff to run them. Murrison told the gathering she didn’t think the County would allow a functioning library staffed with unpaid volunteers, citing possible liability and insurance issues at the least. 

The County Administrator is offering to keep MiWuk open as a community center, without library services. The meeting produced offers from representatives of the Soroptomists, and the Rotary of funding assistance, as did others trying to come up with a plan to keep the branch open. A group of residents formed following the meeting to come up with proposals they hoped to present to the County as an alternative to closing the library. Murrison told the group not to get their hopes up, but was willing to present fresh ideas to the County for consideration.  Following the May 19 meeting of the Board of Supervisors, it was agreed that another follow-up meeting take place.  When asked if conditions improved, would MiWuk reopen? Murrison said, “When things improve, we will probably have to fight to re-open MiWuk.” 

For those who will likely be without a job, adding to the increasing number of unemployed in the County, it is a painful, and becoming, a common scenario. More lives will be disrupted and more of us in the County will have further evidence of how hard this Recession is hitting close to home.  For those employees facing certain layoffs, it is more than losing a paycheck. To most, if not all of them, the library has become a service to patrons to whom they are dedicated. The value of books, of reading and learning, seeing growth in lives enriched through libraries, will be compromised, if not crippled.