MN Loses State Library Agency

A series of June layoffs has effectively closed Minnesota's state library agency, wiping out a range of central services to librarians, and endangering $2.6 million in federal library aid to the state.

Six staff members, including Director Joyce Swonger, learned recently that their jobs at Library Development Services (LDS) would be eliminated as of June 28, following a $6.5 million cut to the state's Department of Children, Families, and Learning (CFL), says Ken Hasledalen, CFL's assistant commissioner. While 14 remaining LDS employees will continue to operate library services for the blind and handicapped and manage grant applications, much of the agency's overall function has not been reassigned. Minnesota Library Association President Chris Olson adds that without a state library agency and a state library director, Minnesota will lose its eligibility for federal library funds, currently $2.6 million a year. Olson laments the loss of the 100-year-old agency as "one of the darkest days for us."