Twice in the span of roughly 12 months, the James Prendergast Library pursued two options to increase its revenues.

Selling parts of the library’s art collection to create an endowment fund that would help support library operations was opposed by a small group of area residents who felt the collection should remain in the library and eventually set aside. Then, voters soundly defeated a library tax that would have provided the library with $850,000 of funding each year.

The defeat of two funding mechanisms has hit the library hard now that the city of Jamestown has taken a step many knew was coming and proposed largely eliminating the library’s funding from the city. Mayor Sam Teresi’s proposed 2017 budget cuts the library’s funding from $350,000 to $100,000, a proposal Tina Scott, library director, said is “close to Armageddon.”

Library officials will host two strategic planning forums at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 28, and Tuesday, Nov. 29. We hope the forums are packed with area residents who use the library and want to see it continue operating at least 55 hours a week. We also hope the forums are well attended by those who fought the art sale and those who voted against the library tax while saying, at the same time, they support the library. The city is no longer in a position to support the library. Somehow, the community must step into that void. Next week’s forums are an opportunity for everyone to bring their ideas to do just that.

Consider attending. The James Prendergast Library has never needed its community’s support more than it needs it now.