SOUTH MILWAUKEE, Wis (CBS 58) - Since 2019, the budget for the South Milwaukee Library has gone down by 20%, reducing staff and materials.

“The sharpest change has been the loss of hours which is a result of our budget cuts,” Library Director Bethany Meyer said. “We have the pool that goes to staff, we have the amount that goes to materials, so we do our best.”

Meyer says the library has the lowest number of hours for any library in Milwaukee County, due to the lack of staffing, which she has seen dramatically decrease since she started in 2017.

“When I started here, we had maybe like 50 percent more staff that we have right now,” Meyer said.

A referendum to help fund the library is set to be on the ballot on April 7 and would cost homeowners in South Milwaukee $60 per year on a $225,000 household.

“If we project another 5% cut next year which has been the trajectory for the last couple years, we would likely have to close another day a week because we would likely have to let some staff positions go,” Meyer said.

Meg Clark lives a block and a half from the library and is there two-three times a week.

“It means everything to me, it’s an honor of a lifetime to live near the library, I love the library, it's got everything,” Clark said. “My husband and I, before he passed, we would do the jigsaw puzzle here.”

Stephanie Routt also lives in South Milwaukee and is at the library almost every day with her boyfriend and his two daughters.

“A lot of times they’re only open until five and you know we can’t make it here so if they were open a little later it would be awesome for every day of the week,” Routt said.

Adrienne Holbach lives in South Milwaukee and is all for library improvements but is skeptical of the referendum.

“What are we paying taxes for,” Holbach said. “If they’re going to put money into a referendum, we need to know exactly what it’s going to be."

If the referendum is not passed, the library could be forced to close for a full day each week.

“I think it behooves any community to support their library because it’s such a center of resources for every strata of the community,” Clark said.