Chelsea Bossert/Daily Mining Gazette After drawing public support for funding at the Hancock Public School District Board of Education meeting on Monday, the Hancock School Public Library is continuing talks with the district in hopes to allocate funding amidst looming budget cuts.

HANCOCK — The Hancock School Public Library (HSPL) is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The district’s Board of Education meeting Monday drew supporters of the library, many of whom spoke during the public comment period.

The school board and Portage Lake District Library, which manages HSPL, are negotiating funding for the next fiscal year, effective in July. According to Hancock Public School District Superintendent Chris Salani, the district and PLDL are deadlocked on where funding needs to go and where it should be cut.

“Where we’re at today, is this budget was proposed from PLDL to the district, which has a significant increase to maintain services,” he said. “We’re at that critical point right now – we’re reviewing. In order to maintain services, this incremental increase means we have to incrementally decrease in other areas.”

While the proposed budget is not yet available to the public, Salani said the increase PLDL is asking for is related to staffing costs.

“We have to evaluate what kinds of services can the district fully afford,” he said. “Or, where do we have to decrease in order to maintain our budget and be fiscally responsible? And so, that’s where we’re kind of at.”

PLDL has managed HSPL since 2018 under a contract with the district. It has supplied staff and materials, as well as managing the budget approved by the school board. PLDL Circulation Manager and Co-Interim Director, Susan Autio, said HSPL has been open to the public after the contract was established, but more resources and attention were required to maintain it.

“It was opened to the public, but it just needed revitalizing, it needed regular staffing and it needed new books,” she said. “And so, the contract was drawn up, where the school gives us a sum of money, and then we staff it and order the books.”

Salani said the district initially wanted the contract to be a short-term solution until it could reasonably run the library again.

“The original contract was envisioned to be a short-term, multi-year contract, three to no more than five years,” he said. “We’ve continued to manage these multi-year contracts from that initial three-year deal that was envisioned.”

HSPL received a $212,000 grant in 2022 from the Michigan Department of Education, aiding additional circulation, furnishing and resource costs. According to PLDL Business Manager and Co-Interim Director, Fawn Lucero, the grant money is no longer a factor.

“Unfortunately, the grant money has run out, and in order to keep those services going, the school would have to take that on,” she said. “And so, that’s what they are looking at possibly cutting.”

According to a Facebook post from HSPL Tuesday, one service it is cutting is Hoopla, a digital media streaming service for library members.

Salani said his position as superintendent requires making decisions ultimately benefitting the Hancock Schools community. HSPL offers services to both students of the district, their families and community members at-large because of its status under PLDL management.

“Right now, we’re not in the fiscal economic environment to please everybody,” he said. “So ultimately, from my desk, I have to ensure that if we have to make cuts in services directly within the campus of Barkell [Elementary] or the high school-middle school, then is that appropriate, versus not making a hard decision with the library, which doesn’t have the full direct benefit to the student need.”

Salani said there are options for Hancock residents and supporters of HSPL. One idea is a millage for the City of Hancock levying funds for the library. Both PLDL administrative staff and Salani recognize a millage would be one solution. According to Autio, there has never been any movement to put one on the ballot.

“Over the last several years now, the contract has just been getting renewed… a millage vote has not ever materialized,” she said.

Upcoming meetings to discuss the Hancock Public Schools budget for next fiscal year, which includes appropriating funds for HSPL, is June 15.

Autio said there is not much PLDL can do on its end and it is up to the school district to allocate funding to keep HSPL open.

“Ultimately the school board has to decide because they’re the ones who have contractually agreed with us,” she said. “It’s up to what they decide that they can put into this budget, you know, what they’re going to pay for our contract.”