Despite previous claims that a library partnership with Wareham Community TV was "off the table," the Wareham Library Board of Trustees has appeared to change its tune.

The board unanimously voted to invite WCTV to explore a partnership with the Wareham Free Library at its meeting Thursday night. The Trustees expressed the need to explore all possibilities for partnerships that could improve services to residents and ultimately help keep the library open.

The Library has seen drastic budget cuts in recent years that have led to the reduction of staff, services and hours. On July 1, the Spinney branch in Onset was closed and the Library's budget, the money it receives from the town, was reduced to $125,000.

That figure is more than $300,000 less than it was just two years ago. The Library is currently operating with $125,000 from the town and about $60,000 in private funding.

"We're very interested in working out some kind of agreement with the Wareham Free Library," said WCTV Director Jay Heard, reached by phone on Monday.

WCTV is currently located in the Old Town Hall on Main Street, and has been looking to move to a new location for well over a year.

Trustees said that at a recent meeting with WCTV, the TV station proposed a preliminary plan to add 5,000 square feet of space to the library. Most of that would comes as an addition to the library's meeting room which could be used as a community TV studio.

Exactly what WCTV could offer the library wasn't immediately clear. Some Trustees said they could help cover some utility costs and perhaps provide technology assistance to library patrons.

"The benefit to the library is that you would have in-house people who are technologically savvy who could lead us in the direction that libraries are going," said Trustee Jim Mendes. "I think that partnering with them is the smartest thing we could do."

Mendes also acknowledged the need for Town Administrator Derek Sullivan to be included in any discussions, as the Library is a town-owned building. Because the Library is a town-owned building, any rent WCTV or others would pay goes to the town.

"It certainly doesn't come across as a silver bullet to solve all our problems," said Trustee Roger Bacchieri.

Library Director Denise Medeiros presented a new budget draft for next year and spoke about the need to find ways to bring down building costs and utilities.

Currently, the town provides the library $125,000, which according to Medeiros only covers all four staff salaries and about $17,000 worth of the library's electricity bill.

"That's it from the town. They're paying for nothing else," she said.

Her budget draft for next year asks for $198,859 from the town for the Wareham Free Library. That is broken down as $138,455 for four salaries $60,404 for utilities.

Medeiros said that the money from the town doesn't cover all expenses at the library. In fact there are no line items for books or materials in her budget. Money for those items typically comes from private groups, such as the Friends of the Wareham Library.

With the recent decertification of the library, the library will be losing out on about $20,000 in state aid. That figure combined with a decline in outside funding would leave a funding gap of about $60,000 for next year, according to Medeiros. She described her budget draft as level-funded, in the sense that it would deliver the same level of services, to reflect that difference.

The budget also contains $30,000 in funds that can only be used at the Spinney branch in Onset. Those funds plus the cost of reopening the Spinney Library for two days a week would bring next year's proposed base budget to $229,000.

Selectman Judith Whiteside said the library budget presented in the five-year projection at spring Town Meeting of $126,970 will likely be the budget proposed by Sullivan as town officials begin their winter budget meetings.