Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
The Shawano County Board signed off on a deal this week that would consolidate the six libraries in the county into one district by the end of the year.
The plan, which is the product of more than a year of work done by an ad hoc committee, must still get the green light from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction before becoming official.
The Shawano City-County Library consists of the main library in Shawano, branches in Birnamwood, Bonduel, Mattoon-Hutchins, Tigerton and Wittenberg, as well as a countywide delivery service.
The county partners with the city of Shawano to provide libraries about $600,000 a year, of which 80 percent comes from the county and 20 percent from the city. Each branch receives additional local support and enjoys some degree of autonomy from the city-county administration.
The problem is that the arrangement makes Shawano County susceptible to charges from neighboring library systems whenever local patrons cross into a nearby county to borrow a book or use other resources. The situation occurs primarily in border communities such as Pulaski and Marion.
The county has received bills exceeding $100,000 a year for such cross-border borrowing.
Under state law, surrounding libraries would be prohibited from collecting such fees if Shawano County converts its patchwork library structure to a consolidated county-run system. With the arrangement scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, the county will take responsibility for all library funding countywide and will manage all facilities through a county-appointed library board.
Individual branches could opt out of the new system, but then they would be responsible for more local operating costs, as well as any bills that might come later for cross-border borrowing. The individual branches have all supported the consolidation plan.
Administrative Coordinator Brent Miller advised the board Wednesday that the county will still need to pay bills for neighboring libraries for 2016 and 2017.
“After this year, we will stop receiving bills,” he said.
Supervisor Deb Noffke expressed dismay that the county will have to pay bills for 2016 and 2017.
“We’re going to have a double whammy because our billing is behind,” Noffke said. “Ouch.”
Supervisor Kathy Luebke said the only issue that needs to be worked out is revising the library’s lease agreement, which will not delay the consolidation schedule.