BATON ROUGE - Assistant Library Director Mary Stein is worried for the future of East Baton Rouge Parish libraries due to a proposal targeting their funding.

Mayor-President Sid Edwards proposed a reduction of City-Parish funding for the East Baton Rouge Parish Library (EBRPL). It says the fund surpasses the national average and the public dollars could be better utilized elsewhere in the City-Parish budget.

Stein says that the money is needed where it is to maintain service to children and adults throughout Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas.

"We're higher than many, but we're also open seven days a week. Not just one library, but every library in our system. That really starts to add up," she said.

The proposal would take away EBRPL's dedicated funds and redistribute them. Right now, EBRPL has a property tax allocated by the Library Board of Directors. Stein says City-Parish libraries are already working to lower property taxes by proposing to reduce the millage rate from 11.1 to 10.5.

The library's millage reduction will go before the Metro Council at their meeting on Wednesday. She says it's important to keep the library out of the general fund.

"By taking the library into the general fund, they would then access our entire fund balance, which people keep incorrectly calling it a surplus," she said.

Edwards claims the public library system has a budget surplus of over $114 million dollars. This number comes from the Jan. 2023 fund balance. Stein says that's not an accurate representation of what's going on in their budget.

"They haven't closed the books on 2024. All expenses are not recorded. All items are not charged to the line in the budget book that they need to be charged to or drawn down."

It is unknown whether both proposals will be on the October ballot.

The library system will propose its lowered millage rate at the next Metro Council meeting on Wednesday. The Mayor-President's proposal will be introduced that day and scheduled for a vote in March.