Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library makes cuts for 2024

Jonesboro, Arkansas – For 2024, the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library will be making cuts in several areas.

The 2024 budget was adopted by the Jonesboro Library Board of Craighead County on Tuesday.

The library’s director and board member, Vanessa Adams, stated that the reduction in county and local millage resulted in the library losing about two million dollars of its operational budget.

The library is currently making cuts.

“The major expense in any business, and in a library too is personnel and salaries. So, it was the first thing that we had to cut and therefore we had to cut hours cause we didn’t have the staff or we won’t have the staff to run the library,” she said.

Two full-time and eleven part-time jobs are being eliminated from the library. Additionally, the library will close on Sundays and begin closing an hour earlier at 6 p.m.

The programming offered by the library will be impacted by the staffing shortage as well.

“A lot of the daycares are going to be cut so we will not be going to daycares to do story times and some of the nursing home and Alzheimer’s units will be cut too so we will not be able to go service these people and have programming there,” she said.

According to Adams, the library intends to stock fewer items overall, including fewer electronic resources like audiobooks and e-books.

Some of those programs will continue, according to Adams, with support from the “Friends of the Library” group.

Adams clarified that not all cuts would occur, stating that the mayors of the smaller towns would assist in keeping the libraries open.

“They are going to help some with the budget, and that’s what they want. They want to help up. They want to keep the libraries in their town, and they genuinely care about their constituents,” she said.

Adams stated that she has felt the support of the community despite the changes, and she is looking forward to the new year in the hopes of gaining more support to put the millages back on the ballot.

“I feel like we are just ready to move on and do the best we can and see what happens,” she said.

The revised hours for the library will take effect on December 26.