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Friday, February 2, 2007

Medway library is in trouble

MEDWAY

They saw it coming.

State library commissioners yesterday(2.1) revoked Medway's public library certification as a consequence of the town slashing the facility's budget, according to library trustees chairwoman Wendy Rowe.

While the library will remain open on a reduced schedule, residents may no longer use their Medway library cards to borrow items from other libraries. Medway officials and library trustees knew the decertification was likely a year ago when they sought and received a waiver from state library standards.

This year their waiver request was rejected when the town failed to restore library funding to a level specified by the state commissioners. Public libraries in Massachusetts are required to be open a certain number of hours and to be publicly funded on par with other town departments.

The library's budget was slashed $100,000 last spring. As a result, five employees resigned. Starting next week, the library's hours will be Monday 2-6 p.m., Tuesday 4-8 p.m., Wednesday 2-6 p.m., Thursday 4-8 p.m. and Friday 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

-- Alison O'Leary Murray

Posted by the Boston Globe City & Region Desk at 10:13 AM

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