The Austin Public Library’s board of directors discussed the changes on the horizon at their regular meeting Monday.

The two largest topics of discussion were the budget and ensuring the library is meeting the needs of Mower County.

The city council recently approved the cost cutting measures proposed by the library. The measures, discussed in depth at the March meeting, include a freeze on hiring and a reduction in weekly hours of operation. The reduced hours will take effect on May 1.

“By far the hardest adjustment is on the staff,” said Library Director Ann Hokanson.

Along with the budget, the expanding needs of Mower County were on the table.

The library is in the planning stage of a program with Southland High School in Adams that would give the people of Adams easier access to a library. The proposed program would have the Austin Library loan additional books and reading materials to the Southland High School library and make them available to the public after school hours.

Both libraries are members of Southeastern Libraries Cooperating (SELCO) system, which means that a person with a library card could acquire books from either library or request material from an library in the SELCO system.

The additional on-hand materials and extra hours would just make them more readily available to the people of the Adams area.

“I think it has a lot of potential,” Hokanson says, “It’s coming together.”

The plan is still in its early stages, and there is no official SELCO method for such a program, but the library board agreed that it was something worth pursuing.

The SELCO organization encompasses libraries in the 11 southeastern counties of Minnesota.

It, along with its sister organization, Southeastern Library Systems promotes communication and efficiency among its member libraries.