What do you do when you're a public facility, your funding has been slashed as part of draconian austerity measures, and someone keeps stealing your toilet paper? If you're the Trenton, New Jersey, public library, you ration your toilet paper to those needing the facilities.
The library began rationing toiletries after rolls of toilet paper and paper towels were stolen on several occasions. Locking the door and other methods of protecting the valuable supplies proved ineffective. The library was forced to spend thousands of dollars to restock the paper items, money that was not in the budget for the year.
Budget woes have been an issue in Trenton for years. The 2008 recession hit the city hard following years of high crime and jobs fleeing for overseas markets. In 2012, Trenton faced a city-wide government shortage of paper supplies, resulting in $42,000 in emergency funding to purchase toilet paper and paper towels for all government offices.
Officials hope the rationing will deter future theft of the library's resources.
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