A move by legislators to eliminate state funding for public libraries could wreak havoc here, Suwannee River Regional Library Director Danny Hales said today.

“We’re at our all-time high usage because of the economy,” Hales said. “We’re hearing things like, ‘I’ve cut off my Internet because we’re on food stamps.’”

Hales said hundreds of people come to the library’s Live Oak branch daily to search the Internet for job listings or inquire about state or federal aid or veterans’ benefits. Students who require Internet access for homework assignments have also been showing up in record numbers.

However, should all state funding is eliminated, which seems likely at this point, access to library services would be curtailed sharply.

“Forget night hours,” Hales said. “We’d have to close in the middle of the week so we could be open on Saturday.”

Hales said as many as 10 of the 21 staff members at the Live Oak library could lose their jobs.

“And we’d probably have to close the Branford library,” he added.

State funds account for about half of the Live Oak library’s operating budget, Hales said. The county commission might be called on to take up some of the slack, but it’s not clear the county could bear the burden alone.

Legislators had originally proposed a $21.2 million library budget, 15 percent below the current figure of $25 million. Yesterday, however, a budget conference committee cut the budget for state public libraries to zero. That means that $8 million in federal matching funds would also likely be lost.

In a press release, the Florida Library Association said it would ask Gov. Charlie Crist today to try to persuade legislative leaders to fund the state libraries at the $21.2 million level – the threshold for the $8 million in federal matching funds.

Legislators will address the issue again Sunday. After that, changes to the budget are unlikely.

“The door won’t be locked shut, but it’d be very difficult to turn the tide after Sunday,” Hales said.

To voice your view on the matter, go to capwiz.com/ala/fl/home and click on “Take action.” There you will find forms for sending email messages to state Rep. Debbie Boyd, state Sen. Charlie Dean and Gov. Charlie Crist.