WA State Library May See More Cuts

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Staff -- School Library Journal, 02/01/2003

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Another round of budget cuts proposed by Washington Governor Gary Locke may curtail Washington State Library's services. (See August 2002, News , p. 18.) Locke has recommended that the state library no longer provide reference support to the state legislature and government. The reduction of services would eliminate 81 of the library's remaining 114 employees and effectively shut the library by turning it into a collection repository, says State Librarian Jan Walsh. The move would save about $5 million of the state library's current $7.6 million budget. The state's revenue shortfall stands at $2 billion.

The library lost 23 percent of its budget in early 2002, when a proposal to shut it down was nixed in favor of a compromise deal to incorporate it into the Secretary of State's office. Since then, 26 positions have been trimmed.