JOHNSONBURG – The Wilcox Public Library will likely remain open
until November, at which time the facility could be closed for good
due to financial problems.

On Thursday, library director Barb DePonceau said while
officials are optimistic the library will receive a much-needed
boost in state funding through the Rendell administration’s
proposed budget, the library’s own budget has been slashed to the
bare bones.

The small, rural library announced earlier this week that it was
cutting the hours it’s open to just a few hours each day, and is
closing altogether on two other days during the week. The hours
will be effective Feb. 27. Officials said the library has already
cut back on staff.

“Like other libraries, our state funding got cut back a few
years ago,” DePonceau said. “We had an investment account that we
relied upon, but as of last year that was depleted. We are trying
to keep it (library) open, but we are close to closing down.”

Rendell’s budget calls for a 23 percent hike in funding to the
state’s libraries, but it was not clear exactly how much each
facility would be receiving.

“Our yearly budget is $25,000 a year and that’s close to
necessities,” DePonceau said. “The state funding is only a third of
that budget.”

DePonceau said the library services residents in Jones Township.
If the library closes its doors, the residents would have to travel
to nearby Johnsonburg for services, but also pay a fee to use that
library.

“The residents of the township would have to pay a $20 a year
non-residence fee to use it (Johnsonburg),” DePonceau said, adding
the library has served the township for 42 years. “If each resident
gave as little as $20, it would keep the library in operation for a
year.”

In an effort to stem off its closing, DePonceau said officials
are trying to get a referendum on the ballot for the general
election this fall, which will call for a hike in real estate taxes
by $10 a year for a $50,000 property.

“They had it on last November and it was turned down by four
votes,” DePonceau said, adding difficulties were incurred, in part,
by voters not noticing the referendum on the ballot or weren’t
educated enough on the matter to vote on it. “Our thinking is it
might go through this time.”

If the library were to close, DePonceau said any state funding
will go toward another community. In 2000, the library applied for
and was accepted into the state aid to public libraries program,
which is designed to provide incentives for local financial support
of library service.

The library was established in 1963 when the Wilcox School
District was dissolved, using money from the Parent Teacher
Organization to enable it to provide free service to township
residents.