The transition of the public library from a city-operated to a county-operated system is complete, and Warren County Public Library leadership hope the change will eventually result in enough revenue to revive some services that are now discontinued.

Control of the library switched officially into county hands on Tuesday, the beginning of the new fiscal year. With that shift, the board of trustees that oversees the library’s operation changed from a seven-person body appointed by the city commission to a five-person board appointed by Warren Fiscal Court.

Also, the library will now be funded by a countywide tax of 4.3 cents per $100 valuation of real and personal property, motor vehicles and watercraft.

Previously, the library subsisted mainly on a 5 cent property tax collected from city residents.

Steve Marcum, the new chairman of the county library board, said the board will be paying attention to how much revenue comes into the system from the new tax.

“We hope to restore some of the critical services that we’ve cut back on,” said Marcum, a holdover from the former city library board.

The other trustees are new members Nancy Huston and Bob Rankin and former city board members Gayla Warner and Mildred Williams.

The library went into the current fiscal year with an operating budget of about $2.5 million, much of it dedicated to paying for staff, property and equipment maintenance and acquisition of books and other materials.

In recent years, the library had been shackled by budgetary constraints, with the county’s annual contribution to the system decreasing last year.

Library director Lisa Rice said the library had not been able to increase its acquisition budget for new materials because of those financial woes.

“We had been operating on a skeletal budget,” Rice said, adding that the acquisition budget for the new fiscal year has been increased by 25 percent.

Officials estimate the countywide library tax may bring in more than $3 million in revenue.

Library director Lisa Rice said that while any revenue increase likely will not be as significant as the public may expect, it will enable the library to bring back some lost services. Most noteworthy is the return of Sunday operating hours - beginning tomorrow, the main library branch at State Street and the Bob Kirby branch will be open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

“It was important to restore Sunday hours because, per hour, Sunday has been our busiest day,” Rice said.

Altogether, the library employs 27 full-time and 30 part-time staff, according to Rice, though that is a figure that could stand to be increased.

Rice identified the youth services department and the home delivery service for physically disabled library patrons as important areas that needed an adequate complement of full-time staff.

Marcum said the board will work with the library system to devise a long-term plan for the system’s future.

The recent opening of the Bob Kirby branch in the former Iron Skillet building and the decision to keep the Smith’s Grove branch appear to indicate that development outside the city limits of Bowling Green has created a demand for services that the library is working to meet.

“We hope that as Bowling Green and Warren County continue to grow we can assess where the community needs additional delivery points of service,” Marcum said.