Last-minute reading and Web-browsing at Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library has turned into something of a necessity for students like Raymond Jones.

All the book reports, research papers and other assignments for which the 17-year-old Vicksburg High School band and choir member uses the library’s resources will have to be done in less time starting Oct. 1, when the library will close an hour earlier.

“A lot of people have projects and homework to do,” said Raymond’s mother, Lynn Jones, accompanying Raymond and his sister, Tricia, as they waited for one of the library’s 11 computer stations to come open. “They’ve got to realize kids have extracurricular activities. I can see doing it during the summer, but now?”

With all checkouts and log-ins ending at 7 p.m. instead of 8 p.m., catching up in core subjects will be more rushed, said Julie Thomas, 18, a Vicksburg High School senior.

“I won’t like that,” Julie said of the new closing time. “I have extra credit homework for English. If it closes at 7, I probably won’t have any time to come. My mother doesn’t get off work until 6:30.”

The reduction will save $3,000 next year, according to library director Deb Mitchell. Saturday hours will remain from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., except for closures on Saturdays when Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Martin Luther King Day and Presidents Day fall on a Monday or Friday.

Funding cuts will hit the library this year from the county and state side. The Veto Street facility will have $13,551 less from Warren County this year, as higher land values will go to rebuilding cash reserves diminished by unusually high medical claims and last-minute dips in real property tax forecasts. Population-based grants from the Mississippi Library Commission will be up to 15 percent less this year, library officials have said.

Pay raises for the 10 full-timers and five part-timers are out of the question for this year due to the budget cuts and out-of-state travel by library officials is off temporarily, Mitchell has said. Interior renovations have been put off indefinitely, save for new energy-efficient windows planned with expected federal stimulus money.

The number of people visiting and checking books, DVDs and other materials from the library figures to be less than last year, with overall visits likely to rise for the year. More patrons, particularly students and young adults, are online at the library to study research topics, check e-mail and catch up on social networking sites than ever before.

“We have people waiting at 9 in the morning,” Mitchell said, adding the activity changes from flipping pages to clicking the mouse as the day goes on. “People here until 8 p.m. are our computer users.”

A recent informal survey showed about 24 people a day coming into the library during the final hour it’s open, Mitchell told members of the library’s Board of Trustees as her recommendation to shorten hours was passed unanimously.

“It’s like anything else,” trustee Brenda Hawkins said. “They’ll accommodate their schedule to that.”

For clinic nurse Etta Harris, the slightly shorter hours will mean another hectic addition to the daily grind for her grandson, Donald Woodson, 11.

“He’s getting more familiar with the library,” Harris said. “But, sometimes it’s quarter-to-6 in the evening and it helps to rest a minute and then come here.”

Mitchell said she’ll be ready to field complaints as soon as the new hours take effect, but stresses the positives with the staff.

“We have a really public service-oriented staff,” Mitchell said, adding more and more people are getting computers at home.

Kimmer Williams, 17, has one — with a bit of an issue.

“l have (the Internet) at home,” Kimmer said, “but my printer isn’t working.”

This year, federal grants have paid for “Playaway” digital audio books, updated computer software and interlibrary loans allowing people to have books sent from other libraries regardless of branch. Another grant allowed federally compliant doors for the disabled.

Most recently, a $1,500 grant from International Paper was secured and will finance a program to purchase “high-interest books for the young adult ages where we lose a lot of readers,” Mitchell said.

The library opened in its Veto Street building in 1979 after moving from Monroe and Crawford streets.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com

By the numbers

Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library

                                  FY 2008    FY 2009 (through August)

Checkouts                 263,441         234,099

Computer sessions     20,350           24,961

Library visits              141,520         136,135

Materials added             7,486            5,901

Program attendance      6,137            3,850

Reference questions    10,731           9,088

New patrons                   1,996           2,100 (est.)