As a result of funding cuts presented in the state budget, University of Wisconsin libraries will take a hit in services and staffing.

Gov. Scott Walker’s budget will cut Wisconsin libraries’ funding by more than $18.9 million in 2012.

Deputy Director of Libraries Ed Van Gemert said the protections campus administration have placed on the library collections from reductions have hindered UW libraries. He said UW libraries have not been permitted to fully participate in cooperative purchasing programs for electronic resources and e-books with their peer institutions in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, a resource-swapping consortium for Big Ten schools.

“The library has met [budget] reductions by canceling and reducing print and electronic journal subscriptions, electronic databases and books,” Van Gemert said.

The reductions have reduced the libraries’ work force by 15 percent in the last two years, while many positions have gone unfulfilled, Van Gemert said.

Reductions require the libraries to examine and prioritize every service they provide, including programs, to align with UW objectives.

Van Gemert said staffing would need to closely align with those designated priorities and they will need to be very strategic in hiring new employees.

“Although this will be a challenge, library staff will respond positively because they are committed to service excellence,” Van Gemert said.

Van Gemert said libraries are not only important to campus, but also offer many academic library services to the community, including borrowing privileges, access to knowledge and expertise from trained professional librarians.

“We cherish the opportunity to promote the Wisconsin Idea, and we actively seek partnerships on and off campus that support teaching, research and learning,” Van Gemert said.

Tana Elias, web resources and marketing coordinator at Madison Public Library, said city cuts would affect local libraries more.

Elias said most of the local library funds come from the city of Madison. Other funding stems from private fundraising, and some system contracts like those from the National Public Library, which is part of the South Central Library System.

She said this system is funded almost entirely by state and federal money, and a cut to this system means the libraries must make up the difference.

“The system provides access to their LINKcat catalog, which is a major library service, [so] if all of a sudden that system service wasn’t funded all of the libraries would need to come up with that funding,” Elias said.

She said Madison Public Library gets its Internet service from UW’s WiscNet at a reduced rate because of its public status.

Elias said if WiscNet is no longer an option for libraries in 2013, they will be forced to rely on private telecom companies for Internet access.

This would result in libraries paying two to three times more for the same service, which would drastically affect the budget, she said.

“You will see reduced city and the library system funding because that would immediately affect all of the funding,” Elias said.

The services funded include Internet access as well as technical support for computers funding the delivery service to get books to and from other libraries.

Elias added the cut would mean fewer hours, employees and services to the public.