For 33 years, the Community Awareness Series (CAS) program has funded music education, free family programs and school workshops at the Miller branch library in Bergen/Lafayette. It started out with a $4.5 million budget from the city. Now the program faces an uncertain future, according to founder Daoud David Williams.

“Our staff went from five to one and there’s no money to pay music instructors,” Williams told the City Council at the Aug. 4 meeting.

He added that volunteers have been keeping the program alive. “We should be planning our special ed and school outreach programs,” he said. “Instead, we’re under siege every day. “We don’t need less; we need more.”

Last year, the program had a $140,000 budget, but this year, the program has received no funding since March. However, the library has also seen a $1.7 million cut from the city and 17 percent reduction in state aid.

Regardless, CAS supporters argued that the program is an essential cultural beacon of the city. They collected hundreds of petition signatures and carried signs reading “Support CAS and Jersey City Free Public Library (JCFPL).”

Professional trumpet player Satish Robinson, 30, said he started out at CSA seven years ago. But he didn’t need to say any more. Instead, he performed a slow, short jazz number, garnering applause.

Volunteer Kwame R. Daughtry said the program makes Jersey City a better place to live. “It’s a solution to the problems associated with drug, crime and violence in the community. It gives young people a chance to become musicians and artists,” Daughtry said.

Councilman Mike Sottolano said the City Council has no say in CAS funding. “We don’t vote on your budget. We allocate money to the library. But we don’t tell the library how to spend the money. We don’t micromanage,” Sottolano said.