CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Library administrators across the state are holding emergency meetings and hoping for the best after the Supreme Court ruled last week that a law forcing the Kanawha County Board of Education to fund its public library is unconstitutional.

"I think we're all making plans for the worst-case scenario because right now, that's the fiscally responsible thing to do," said Pam Coyle, director of the Martinsburg-Berkeley Public Library.

The court declared Friday that a 1957 special act that requires Kanawha County to give a portion of its budget each year to the local library system creates unequal treatment and is therefore null and void. Similar laws have provided libraries in nine other counties with funding from school boards.

The decision came 10 years after the Kanawha County school board first sued the library over the matter.

"What worries me is that the question wasn't how much we should give our libraries -- it was if we should give them anything at all. That's a concern," Coyle said.

In addition to the Kanawha County school board, Berkeley, Hardy, Harrison, Ohio, Raleigh, Tyler, Upshur, Wood and Cabell county school boards have been required by law for more than 50 years to financially support libraries, until now.

For the Kanawha County Public Library, that means a loss of about 40 percent -- or about $3 million -- of its entire budget if the school board chooses to pull all its funding for the library.

Karen Goff, head of the West Virginia Library Commission, spent Monday afternoon talking to county library leaders who could be affected by the ruling and helping them plan for the future.

"I understand the court did this for equal protection, but these libraries will have to cut operating funds, hours, staff and acquisitions," she said. "And that's unfortunate because these 10 counties had the best funded libraries in the state."

Of the 97 public library systems in West Virginia, only 16 do not receive some funding from their local boards of education. By law, only school boards, municipalities and county commissions can fund libraries, Goff said.

"They don't have a lot of options," she said. "A lot of them don't know what's going to happen. They don't know what their boards of education are going to do. They can request funding, but they can never be assured if they'll get it or not."

Jennifer Armistead, director of the Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library, said the loss of funding in her county would be devastating, especially because the state matches the amount each year.

"We're disappointed with the decision, but we're hoping for the best. It's very scary when you start to think about what you'd have to cut," she said. "We've always had a good relationship with the board and the schools. Knock on wood."

 But Mike Queen, president of the Harrison County Board of Education, said there's nothing to worry about.

"No school board likes to be told how to spend their money, and this has always been a unique situation, but we certainly understand the value our students and citizens get from the library. We have no interest in cutting funding at all," he said. "While we may not like being told what to do, we know we're reaping benefits from these community libraries.

"We're getting the bang for our buck," he said.

County school boards can still financially support their libraries. They're just no longer mandated by law to do so.

That's not enough to feel safe, said Dottie Thomas, director of the Ohio County Public Library.

"If you want a vital and stable public institution that serves the needs of all the citizens in its area -- for every age group -- you must have stable funding and it must be sufficient," said Thomas, who oversees the oldest public library in the state. "Without that, you can't plan for the future. You can't know from year to year what programs you can offer."

Libraries that are supported by excess levies are protected for now. When levy terms are up, school boards will have the option to include library services in the levy money.

"There is a possibility that our board of education could choose not to include us in its excess levy when it's time to vote again. But for now, we're safe, and I'm confident. We've always worked together," said Judy Rule, director of the Cabell County Public Library. "But make no mistake, this is bad news for the libraries in West Virginia. This will be devastating."

Amy Lilly, director of the Raleigh County Public Library, said she's one of the lucky ones because of her school board's support, but it's crucial for the state to realize libraries' role in public education. It's not just about taking a book off a shelf, she said.

"Everyone thinks that libraries are strictly about books and that books are going to go away overnight. But it's not about that. It's about teaching students how to research and how to find good, credible information," she said. "Our roles are going to constantly change over time, and good libraries realize that.

"If this were to happen to us, it would totally gut our system," she said. "We would have to shut our doors."