Funds Saved at L.A. County Library

Los Angeles County librarians can breathe a sigh of relief following a unanimous vote by the county Board of Supervisors on June 26 to restore $7.2 million in cuts to the library system.

Officials had anticipated closing 15 of the county's 84 branches and cutting weekend hours if the board had adopted $8.4 million in library cuts approved in May. "We are so delighted that our Board of Supervisors have shown their support of libraries," says Penny Markey, coordinator of youth services for the County of Los Angeles Public Library. However, the beleaguered library still has a $2.3 million deficit due to California's fiscal crisis, which reduced state support of the Public Library Fund. "This will impact our materials budget," says Markey. "So we're not out of the woods yet."