West Virginia Begins to Discuss Library Funding
Staff -- Library Journal, 3/8/1999
At the first public hearing to discuss a report on the future of West Virginia libraries, a consultant warned the West Virginia Library Commission (WVLC) "not to force small libraries to close and merge with larger ones," reported the March 2 Charleston Gazette . However, consultant Bill Wilson said the WVLC could "encourage mergers through the withdrawing of artificial [financial] support systems." West Virginia libraries are the second-worst funded libraries in the nation, with only 59.7 percent of funding coming from local government. Several West Virginia librarians canvassed by LJ had mixed responses to the report, saying that it focused attention on a longstanding problem, but would not necessarily provoke local or state politicians to act. Noting that West Virginia legislators had funded a new football stadium at Marshall University, the Gazette editorialized January 30, "If lawmakers don't provide more funding, it will imply that they consider football more important than knowledge." Another public hearing will be held April 12, and the WVLC is expected to vote in May on whether to accept the report and then make policy recommendations.
