No one can deny that the Orange County commissioners have a very difficult budget situation this year. We all face cuts as they balance the budget. But some areas are targeted disproportionately, especially the branch libraries in Carrboro and cedar Grove. They are are slated for elimination.

It is tempting to zero out small programs in order to reduce the impact on big ones, and it may be appropriate to eliminate some. Simple percentage cuts across the board are rarely smart.

I suggest a few guiding principles: be proportional, don't do permanent damage, use opportunities to leverage private efforts with public funds. And, be reasonable.

Sometimes eliminating a program is a false saving.

This applies to the branch libraries in Carrboro and Cedar Grove. They don't cost much, and the money is "needed" in Hillsborough. So, why not?

The term "highly leveraged" is discredited as a result of the financial collapse.

But, I suggest the branch library in Carrboro is highly leveraged in a positive way. The small amount of county funds leverage an enormous amount of volunteer hours, private donations, and foundation grants for the public.

Its hours are already too short. Even a small reduction would be felt. But I am outraged about plans to "permanently" close it and "disperse" its collection. It is proposed that parts may be moved to Hillsborough, sold or recycled. This is how volunteers are thanked?

Such action is a false economy. It is also a direct slap in the face to those who have worked so hard to support the library and to those who use it.

To add insult to injury, in justifying the closure the County Manager said, "If you want to do a branch library, you have to do it right." (The Carrboro Citizen May 14)

For over a decade the county has not yet done right by the Carrboro library. Its collection should be moved, all right, but to a free-standing building in town. Not this year, of course, but soon.

Library services, especially branch libraries near the people in Carrboro and Cedar Grove, are needed now in these difficult economic times needed more than ever.

The Carrboro Branch may get its share of the cuts; I hope it will ultimately get its fair share of library services.

If the Carrboro library is closed, I don't think people will soon forget or forgive.

A recently retired commissioner expressed relief when the McDougle branch was opened that he no longer had to listen to the complaint that Carrboro was the largest town in the state without its own library. Will it soon regain that dubious status?

Due to the tortured definition of "revenue neutral," almost all of us face a tax increase this year. County funding for the Carrboro Branch is only about a dollar per person in the county.

We are in trouble, but we are not in that much trouble.

I worry about cuts to the schools this year; they are deep and serious. But I am confident that in this community they will be as small as possible and temporary.

That is not the case with the branch libraries. Carrboro and Cedar Grove should be funded this year or they will be lost for a very long time.

Allen Spalt lives in Carrboro and is a former member of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen.