SAUGUS-The library might be down after Town Meeting last week nixed additional funding, but it’s not out, according to the Board of Trustees.It has, however, cut its hours.Effective today, the library will only be open 28 hours per week and closed on Thursday and Sunday, which is a long way from meeting the requirements for state certification. That fact is not lost on Library Trustee Pat Fish, who said the library would make a comeback.The library lost its accreditation in 2007 when former Library Director Mary Rose Quinn closed its doors after her budget was slashed to zero.In order to get its accreditation back, several things must happen, including expanding the department’s budget as well as its hours.The state’s Board of Library Commissioners requires the library to remain open a minimum of 50.5 hours to be eligible for re-certification. The library’s Board of Trustees petitioned Town Meeting for an additional $23,000 for salaries in an attempt to meet those hours, but Town Meeting turned it down. Had the town come up with the funds, Fish said the library could have been open 40 hours per week.”It didn’t come out in our favor though,” she added. “It’s OK – well it’s not OK, but we’ll get there.”Fish acknowledged that there were a lot of questions asked during Town Meeting, which the board didn’t answer as well as it could have.”There were a lot of questions raised and I think we have legitimate answers,” she said.Some of the questions put to the trustees included why books weren’t being purchased, why it didn’t seem to be utilizing volunteers and why it couldn’t operate with what it had, which was more than the year before.Fish said volunteers could not be substituted for staff members.Mary Ellen Picardi, chairman of the Trustees pointed out that there was still money in the book budget because new books aren’t purchased all at once. Book releases are like movie releases in that new ones come out all year long and she said they didn’t want to spend the book budget all at once and have nothing to buy new best sellers with down the road.She also pointed out that the library had 142,000 visitors last year so despite its struggles, it is very much a part of the community.Fish said she realizes the Trustees need to go to greater lengths in trying to help people understand how the library must operate, which as a new trustees, she is still learning herself. She said there are a lot of behind-the-scenes technical and logistical operations that the public isn’t aware of, nor should they be because there is no need.But in the eyes of Town Meeting and the Finance Committee, which recommended the library be watched very carefully, there is a need for clarity.And Fish and Picardi are both confident the Trustees, given the chance to work with the town, can clear up any lingering doubts or discernments.”We will be re-certified eventually,” Fish said. “And we’ve got to get going on that.”