Supporters Rally Across Connecticut to Save Libraries
By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 6/29/2009
Librarians and Democratic lawmakers in Connecticut have spent the last two weeks rallying across the state to get Governor M. Jodi Rell to reverse her decision to cut more than $5.1 million in school, public, and university library funds annually for the next two years.
“We’re hoping it will draw attention to the ramifications of cutting library support,” says Randi Ashton-Pritting, president of the Connecticut Library Association and director of the University of Hartford Libraries System.
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Connecticut librarians met at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on June 19 to oppose Republican Governor Jodi Rell's proposal to slash state support for public libraries. |
“People are unemployed, they’re cutting their Internet service, and coming to library to search for jobs,” says Doug Whiting, a spokesman for the state’s House Democrats. “Demand is extraordinary, and this is a short-sighted way to close the budget.”
The proposed cuts include curtailing interlibrary loans between branches and schools, and ending iCONN, the statewide digital library, which was used by K-12 students last year to search more than 10 million newspaper clippings, historical data, and full text entries, says Ashton-Pritting.
If libraries had to purchase these individual licenses, it would cost $33 million, she adds.
Connecticut is facing an $8.6 billion deficit, which Rell has proposed closing entirely with cuts rather than raising taxes. “But these must be smart cuts, fat not muscle,” says Whiting. “We think libraries are muscle.”
The proposed reduction to library funding is just .07 percent of the full budget—and doesn’t include $2.2 million in matching federal funds that the state stands to lose if Rell’s budget passes.
Connecticut’s K-12 schools already face serious belt-tightening under the governor’s plan to cut more than $40 million over the next two years, including the closure of two high schools, and the suspension of extended school hours for academic and enrichment programs.
State Democrats last week proposed their own budget, with library cuts, among others, restored. Now the ball’s in Rell’s court, says Whiting.
With the fiscal year ending June 30, if Rell vetoes in favor of the Democratic proposal, all parties might end up at the negotiating table to fight for their causes.
“Libraries serve the educational need of our state,” says Whiting. “And education is going to be the key to coming out of this recovery strong.”
