Pennsylvania Support for Libraries Drops 8.4% More, After Major Cuts in 2009
By Norman Oder Jul 7, 2010Libraries in Pennsylvania, which last year saw a 27.9% cut in state support, are bracing for additional reductions in hours, staff, and materials, after the legislature passed an additional 8.4% cut, bringing the total state contribution down to $62,510,000.
(Last year's cut was originally reported at 26.7%.)
The major component of the new cut is a $5,451,000 reduction (9.1%) in subsidies for public libraries. Library services for the visually impaired and disabled were cut by $168,000, or 5.8%.
Feeling the pain
Glenn Miller, executive director of the Pennsylvania Library Association, told LJ that, because most public libraries operate on a calendar year budget, the pain will be mostly felt in 2011, with many libraries losing an additional day of service from 2010 levels.
This year, he said, libraries weren't singled out, "but what's aggravating [is] we're busier than ever. The public needs us more than ever. Legislators heard that, I don't know about the administration."
"This is the last year of this administration," Miller said of Governor Ed Rendell. "We've been disappointed. We're working with the next two candidates to see if we can make a stronger case [for libraries] with the incoming administration."
Backlash against Specter library
While Pennsylvania, like other states, has suffered from the recession, library advocates and spending watchdogs have criticized Rendell's plan to use $20 million state construction bonds for centers memorializing Sen. Arlen Specter and the late Rep. John P. Murtha, both fellow Democrats.
Specter's papers will be housed at the Arlen Specter Library at Philadelphia University, while Murtha's would be at the John P. Murtha Center for Public Policy at the University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown.
While Rendell told the Philadelphia Inquirer that bond dollars are different than operating funds, Miller observed, "Let's just say that some people's timing isn't the best in the world. The juxtaposition obviously, is ironic and annoying. There are different pots of money, I understand that... I do know the folks in public libraries are pretty angry about the juxtaposition: cuts on one hand, pet projects on the other."
One commenter on the Inquirer's web site, self-identified as "a former adjunct professor of Information Systems at Philadelphia University," suggested that a much less expensive archive of Specter's papers could be achieved via digitization.
The libertarian, Harrisburg, PA-based Commonwealth Foundation also criticized the spending on such structures as a waste of taxpayers' money.
