Carbon County's six libraries depend on outside funding to keep their doors open.

Four of the six do receive some help from the state, but officials say it isn't enough.That's why they look to municipalities, school districts, private donors and the county for additional support.On Thursday, Mary Farnschlader of the Penn-Kidder Library and Jane Roberts of the Lehighton Library approached the Carbon County Commissioners on behalf of the six libraries to see if the county would increase its annual funding from $1,200 to $5,000 apiece.Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said the request will be considered as the county looks at next year's budget, but the decision hinges on the state and federal funding the county will receive to cover its costs first."It's not looking very good at all," Nothstein said. "We just got a note from The County Commissioners Association (of Pennsylvania) that it appears there will be a lot of cuts to a lot of our funding sources to a lot of our agencies."He cited the proposed $40 million cut to the 911 fund alone."They need to make up about a billion and a half dollars so they are stealing out of the other funds that are designated to 911, which is a safety issue to all emergency services," Nothstein said. "We cannot promise you anything. We are just trying to survive like you are."Farnschlader said she understands since only four of the six get state funded so anything that can be donated would help in the long run.Nothstein asked what the other two would need to do to get state funding.Roberts said it is based on the physical size of the library, the size of the collection, the amount of funding that comes from municipalities, the number of people who have cards for a library and the certification of the librarian.The county thanked the two for coming in and said that it will be taken under consideration.