They may not know how the story will end, but a handful of Tristate political leaders want the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County to close the book on the possibility of shutting down five of its branches.

        Commissioner Todd Portune, Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken and a handful of other elected officials Friday signed a declaration saying the library should not close five branches to help resolve a $4.3 million budget deficit.

        The library board has already said it will delay the closings, which were to happen Sept. 1, so that a series of public hearings can be held. The library board will meet at 9 a.m. Monday to officially vote on the issue and schedule the hearings. The public is invited to the meeting, which will be at the downtown library.

        But the branches identified for closure — in Bond Hill, Deer Park, Elmwood Place, Greenhills and Mount Healthy — are still in danger unless additional money can be found.

        “Part of the issue here is just the way it was handled,” Mr. Luken said. “The announcement clearly came as a surprise to the people in Bond Hill. And Bond Hill is a community that needs a library.”

        The library board found out in June that it's budget for the second half of the year would be $3.1 million less than last year. That's in addition to a $500,000 reduction in February and a nearly $700,000 cut from a different budget.

        The majority of library budgets across the state are funded by the state income tax. While the percentage of that tax used for libraries has remained the same — 5.7 percent — the tax is generating less money than last year, so there is less to go around.

        About 95 percent of the library system's $52.5 million budget comes from state income taxes.

        Mr. Portune will present a resolution to his fellow commissioners Monday morning urging the library board to vow not to close any branches. County commissioners appoint four of the seven library board members.

        “It's important to send a unified statement (to the library board) that we are all serious about this issue,” Mr. Portune said. He also said he was disappointed that the library board members declined to attend a meeting Friday on solving the budget woes.

        “They need to reverse the decision to close branches.”

        Charles Lindberg, chairman of the library's finance committee, said he had planned on attending Friday's meeting but cancelled when he found out only one county commissioner would be there.

        “It was obviously a political maneuver of some kind,” Mr. Lindberg said of the meeting arranged by Mr. Portune and attended by a Greenhills council member, Mount Healthy mayor Ross Bittner, Elmwood Place Vice Mayor Scarlett Monday and others.

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