Libraries Feel the Pain, Again
Libraries nationwide face another round of cuts at budget time
Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 5/1/2003
The Ohio House of Representatives voted April 9 to retain $457 million in state library funds, but the Senate may not be as generous when it reconvenes in early May, Ruark adds. Some 77 percent of Ohio libraries rely solely on state funding, so even the smallest cuts will lead to shorter hours of operation, fewer services, and some closures.
In Pennsylvania, the state general assembly passed a partial FY 2004 budget in March, slashing 50 percent of funds for public libraries from $75 million to $37.5 million. Most of the state's 630 libraries receive 30 percent of their funds from the state, so if efforts to restore the money fail by the June 30 deadline, the result would be "devastating," says Glenn Miller, executive director of the Pennsylvania Library Association.
Meanwhile, lobbyists and library supporters are trying to save Colorado's seven regional library systems, which will close if the state approves recommendations to eliminate $2.4 million in FY 2004 to help stave off a $1 billion budget shortfall, says Patti Bateman, chair of the Colorado Association of Libraries' Legislative Committee.
