Scores of area residents packed into the West County Area Library Thursday night, voicing support for efforts by library officials to preserve funding for books, programming and staff.

Anne Arundel County Library Administrator Hampton “Skip” Auld pleaded with local residents for support in attempts to save the library system from cuts that would result in shorter hours.

County Executive John R. Leopold has asked the library system to reduce its budget by 10 percent. The library system complied with the request in its recent budget proposal, but also attached a letter requesting a cut of only 4 percent. A 10 percent cut, Auld said, would force most libraries to close on Sundays, while having reduced hours on Thursdays and Fridays.

“It’s a state of emergency for our library system,” Auld said. “We don’t feel the library should be exempted from budget cutting and we certainly want to be part of it … we do think the cuts to the library have been disproportionate compared to other county agencies.”

Since 2008, the budget for the library system has been cut about 16 percent. Money for materials collections is about $2 million, down $1 million from 2008 and the same level as 1999. Auld said that with a 4 percent budget cut, libraries would be able to maintain current operating hours, but would have to eliminate security guards, cut programming in half and eliminate eight vacant positions.

Meanwhile, nothing is being spent on library repairs or renovations. A ten percent budget reduction, Auld said, would be more visible to patrons and have a longer-lasting impact on the system.

The call for budget cuts comes as the county is facing a structural budget deficit of as much as $75 million. Leopold has asked all government agencies to submit budget proposals with 10 percent reductions.

With few exceptions, residents spoke out in support of the library, suggesting that the county find savings elsewhere.

“My perspective has shifted a bit … I realized the library was important but I had never seen it as an anchor that we needed to keep stable,” Odenton resident Rusty Vaughan said. “It’s really like a guidepost that we need to have in the community, and I think we should work on cutting less from the library than we do on other things. Let’s cut back on some things we can better do without.”

Linda Smoot, a library employee at the Maryland City branch, spoke out in support of co-workers who were dealing with furloughs and seeing hours cut.

“We are hard-working people,” she said. “We do educate your children, because when they leave school, they come to us. We’re dedicated to our patrons.”

Thursday night’s town hall meeting was the first of three. Auld will also speak at the Annapolis library on March 17 and the North County Area Library on March 24.