Discussion of closing the Wareham Library has once again reared its ugly head, but library officials don’t plan on going down without a fight.

The Library Board of Trustees met on Thursday, Nov. 20 to plan a budget for next year and to explore ways of building community support for sustaining a publicly-funded library.

Library Director Denise Medeiros presented the first budget draft for next year at $282,048. That is the amount needed from the town for the library to apply for recertification next year, according to Medeiros. The library was recently decertified by the state due to a lack of town funding. This caused a loss of about $20,000 in annual state aid and the ability to borrow books from most libraries in the state.

There are also $30,000 in funds that can only be used at the Spinney branch in Onset. Including those funds and reopening of the Spinney Library would bring next year's proposed base budget to $312,048.

Spinney was closed on July 1. The same day, the Wareham Library saw a drastic cut to staff and hours as its budget was reduced to $125,000, more than $300,000 less than it was just two years ago. The Library is currently operating with $125,000 from the town and substantial private funding. If the library were to receive the same amount from the town next year, the situation could grow even more dire.

"At that point, I'd say just close," Medeiros said.

She was quick to say she didn’t advocate closing the library, but was concerned about what services could possibly be offered with $125,000 from the town and diminished private funds.

“It takes almost $100,000 to operate the building,” Medeiros said. “I think the we need the service. That’s what people come here for, (to get) help in finding what they need.”

The Library recently lost the children’s librarian, who has been relegated to the front desk, and the computer assistance employee, in addition to the slew of service cuts over the past few years. State decertification is just the latest blow to the cash-strapped library.

Only six public libraries in the state are decertified and those are all in towns with populations much smaller than Wareham. Other libraries in the state are not obligated to share books, e-books and other materials with decertified libraries and thus far only three other libraries have agreed to do so with Wareham.

Cost cutting ideas such as bringing in outside organizations like Wareham Community Television or closing down sections of the library are apparently not on the table or viable solutions, according to the Trustees.

Library Trustee Roger Bacchieri said the $282,048 of town funding would roughly bring the equivalent of last year’s level of service. He said that the town appropriation to the library should at minimum cover staff, heat, electricity and a small book fund and that everything above and beyond that can be covered by outside groups.

For the 11 towns in Massachusetts with similar-sized budgets to Wareham (+/- $5 million), the average town appropriation to their libraries was $578,251 in Fiscal Year 2013, according to the most recent available data.

Bethany Gay, chair of the Board of Trustees, said there is a need to reach out in the community and vocalize support for a publicly-funded library. Library officials are set to go before Selectmen at their 7 p.m. board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 25. The next Library Board of Trustees meeting is on Dec. 18 at 5 p.m.

“Closing is not an option,” said Kerry Mello, president of the Wareham Library Foundation. “We can’t be the people who let Wareham have no library.”