For many people, a library is just a place for books, but for kids in Summerville, Jefferson County, it's the place to go after school.

"I have three boys, they love to come down here and play on the computers, read the books, play with the toys and hang out with the other kids down here," said Amanda Girt, a parent from Summerville.

Girt is like many parents in this area who use the library for not just education, but also a place for her kids to play. The after school programs are a big part of her kids lives, which is why she's hoping that the programs offered at the library now, are still offered in the future.

"People here realize that it's such an important part of the library," said Girt.

But the Summerville Library has fallen on hard times. Staff at the library say they are on a tight budget because their funding has been cut, which was ok for a some time. However, electricity, gas and supplies have to be paid for, but they're getting expensive, so that budget is getting tighter.

Library Director Jennifer Coleman is now left managing a budget with those problems in mind.

"We are doing everything we can to not cut programs," said Coleman.

So she has resorted to cutting the hours at the library, staff shifts, and is constantly paying  attention to expenses.

"We might have wanted to clean the carpets but that's an extra several hundred dollars that we just haven't had, so therefore, carpets still need to be cleaned," said Coleman, who compared running a library to the same way a middle class family operates their budget; they're getting by, but don't expect any big time purchases.

Staff say the Summerville community has been supportive, but asking them for money isn't much of an option since Summerville is also experiencing some difficult times economically.

"So it's hard to ask people struggling, to help a library."