PROVIDENCE, Utah — The fate of the Cache County Library hangs in the balance as officials consider funding cuts to manage the budget deficit.
As the county works through its budget for next year, County Executive George Daines has recommended defunding the Cache County Library — the only countywide library in the area.
WATCH: Public library faces defunding ahead of Cache County council vote for next year's budget
"I’ve taken my kids there for story time since he was 3, and I have three kids, I’ve taken all three of them there,” said Emily Jensen, who lives in River Heights. “It’s a good community place, and we get all of our books from there. I use their digital library."
Since learning about the library’s possible closure, the local community has been making posters, and on Tuesday night, they packed the Cache County Council chambers to show their representatives what they hope to see.
"It’s our favorite,” said Emily Jensen, who also lives in River Heights. “My kids seriously love going there, and I would be so sad if they got rid of it.”
The only library they can access for free is the county one. They and others showed up in solidarity with others who want to save the Cache County Library.
"It isn’t really about whether we like libraries or not,” said Daines. “It’s about the problem of double taxation. Eighty percent of the valley has paid through their taxes for municipal libraries.”
But, as beloved as the library might be, Daines said he’s just trying to help reduce a $7 million budget deficit. He hopes the quarter of a million from the library’s annual budget helps with that.
"We're looking at situations where we can cut; we're also looking at increasing the revenue. We're rearranging departments, putting off purchases,” said Daines.
People losing access to the county library can still use the other municipal libraries in their neighboring cities, but they would have to pay what the cities charge their residents through taxes.
"They can attend storytelling at the [other] library; they can do everything except check out a book. When they want full access, the other libraries want them to pay what their own citizens pay for their library access,” said Daines.
But now, it’s up to the County Council to decide how they want to go with the budget. The employees who work there hope they can stay open.
“There’s a lot of people who live in unincorporated areas — they will never be in a city to have a city library. There’s a lot of people who won’t have access to a library without us,” said Abbie Chesley, who works at the Cache County Library.
The County Council set a public hearing on Nov. 4 to listen to what people have to say about the library.
