By Mark Price
msprice@charlotteobserver.com

After days of public outcry over a plan to close half of the county's libraries, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library board has chosen to keep all 24 branches open - but with sharp reductions in hours, services and programs, as well as additional salary cuts of as much as 20 percent.

Layoffs will still be required, but the number has been reduced from the original 148 to no more than 84.

The cuts, which go into effect the first week of April, are in response to a $2 million drop in county support for this budget year. Mecklenburg officials have warned the library it could lose half of its county money starting July 1, the start of a new financial year. That would be more than $17 million.

Board member Darrel Williams said it's inevitable that the libraries will have to choose between quantity of branches and quality of service.

"Do we strip the guts out of the system to keep more libraries open?" he asked board members at their Wednesday meeting. "I think we're fooling ourselves if we think there are not going to be any layoffs in the next fiscal year. ... I want to emphasize that this is a Band-Aid."

The board's vote Wednesday came in front of an overflow crowd of about 100 - three times the number on hand for last week's decision to close 12 libraries. Included were patrons, preachers, children with signs in support of their neighborhood branch, and even elected officials such as Mint Hill Mayor Ted Biggers.

Five were allowed to speak, and all wanted to keep as many branches open as possible.

In the end, the board agreed. All branches remain open, but with a cut in schedules from as many as seven days a week to five.

There will be a sharp reduction in services, too, such as classes for job-seekers, computer training, book clubs, and children's and teen programs. The budget for new books and other media products will be eliminated, and the library will spend less on maintenance, supplies and technology.

Salary cuts will range from 5 percent for lower-level employees up to 20 percent for library director Charles Brown, who made more than $170,000 last year, and one other staff member.

Brown said the strategy adopted Wednesday was among several options considered in recent weeks by the library's senior staff.

However, Brown said it was not submitted for a board vote earlier because the staff believed patrons would prefer to keep hours and programs intact, even if they had to travel farther to use them.

"What we heard from the public is that ease of accessibility is a high priority," he said. "The public would rather have 24 libraries, even if they're open fewer days, with fewer hours and fewer services."

Board chairwoman Robin Branstrum said the library probably will close some branches next year based on predicted budget cuts.

However, she said keeping as many branches open as possible will help the system bounce back in the future.

"It's easier to increase services than to reopen a branch," she said.

One factor lessening the blow, she said, is the money donated this week by patrons hoping to keep all of the branches open - at least temporarily.

By late Wednesday, the total was up to $230,285, including both online contributions and cash donations made at boxes placed at library branches by Friends of the Library.

All of the money will go toward restoring cut programs, officials said.

A new phase of the public campaign begins Sunday, when several churches will take up collections for the libraries at their services.

As many as seven churches in the Beatties Ford community will participate, said Harriet Smith, president of Friends of the Library. Members of three churches in other parts of the city have also asked for donation envelopes to distribute, she said.

On Sunday, Friends of the Library will post members outside the six regional libraries from noon to 3 p.m., to collect donations.

"We'd love to see this challenge (among churches) spread to other areas," Smith said.

"This is going to be a very big push on Sunday. I feel quite energized, knowing that every dollar we raise will help restore cuts."

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