BATH — Patten Free Library officials said Wednesday that they don’t yet know how they will address Tuesday’s decision by Phippsburg voters to cut funding to the library — a move that essentially would end the town’s affiliation with the institution.

But David Miller, chairman of the library’s board of trustees, said Wednesday morning that Tuesday’s vote at Phippsburg’s annual town meeting to cut funding means that, “As things stand now, they will not have access to the library collection and services on the first of July.”

Residents at the town meeting voted 111 to 47 on Tuesday to approve $25,000 in funding for Patten Free Library in Bath instead of the $35,493 requested by the library. The decision stemmed in part from a townwide effort to trim costs to meet an unexpected increase in Phippsburg’s share of the Regional School Unit 1 budget.

Susan Beegel, a Patten Free Library board member from Phippsburg, cautioned residents on Tuesday that the library would have “no choice but to refuse the funding” because, according to its bylaws, each participating community must pay according to its population, and Phippsburg’s increased last year, according to the 2010 census.

Still, a majority of voters opted not to allocate full funding to Patten Free, with many arguing that Phippsburg’s own Totman Library provided enough of a collection and plenty of services for residents.

“I’m tired of Patten Free Library holding us hostage year after year after year,” Fred Libby Jr. said. “Those people who want to use the library, take $50 out of your pocket and go use it.”

Miller reiterated on Wednesday that in order to change what Phippsburg would pay to use the library, the board would have to approach the library’s corporators and seek an amendment to Patten Free’s bylaws.

“Before the library board would recommend we do that, we’d have to have a plan in place for what a new financing scheme might mean to the surrounding municipalities, and we just don’t have that at the moment,” he said.

Without Phippsburg’s $35,493, the library’s budget will see a shortfall of about 5 percent for 2013, Miller said.

Phippsburg’s decision was discussed Wednesday morning at a regularly scheduled meeting of the library’s Finance Committee, according to Miller, and will likely be a topic at a regularly scheduled board meeting on Tuesday.

“We really don’t know what all the next steps are,” he said, adding that four other towns that use the library — Arrowsic, Georgetown, West Bath and Woolwich — still must approve their budgets.

“We passed a budget for (fiscal year 2013) in February and gave it to the towns, and we don’t know how we might have to amend that. It’s entirely too early for us to talk about how a new budget might impact our collection and services.” Lesley Dolinger, director of Patten Free Library, said on Wednesday that she was “very saddened and disappointed” by the Phippsburg vote, but emphasized that the library’s financial requests from other participating towns will not change as a result of that town’s decision.

“We don’t want to lose the support of Phippsburg, and also our cardholders from Phippsburg — we have over 900 and we want to continue. I do hope this is not the end.”

bbrogan@timesrecord.com