SENATE BILL 850 –WILL CLOSE PUBLIC LIBRARY DOORS

The Pennsylvania State Budget, which is being debated in both the State House and Senate right now, will significantly impact our library next year. Now is the time to urge add your voice to support level funding for library services next year. Under S.B. 850 library programs are hit hard. The Public Library Subsidy would be cut 50% to $37 million. The Library Access line (POWER Library, statewide borrowing, interlibrary delivery) would cease operations as this year’s $7 million appropriation would drop to zero. The Electronic Library Catalog (Ask Here PA, Access PA database) would have only $1.7 million next year compared to this year’s total of $3.7 million. Funding for the State Library (50% cut to $2.4 million) and Library Services for the Visually Impaired and Disabled (2% cut to $2.9 million) are the same in both the Governor‘s proposal and the Senate Republican bill.

Cuts of this magnitude would be devastating, of course. And in a budget that relies on cuts alone, many, many programs are hit hard. The Department of Community and Economic Development would be cut by 52% under S.B. 850. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources would lose 17%. State spending in the Department of Education would drop by more than a half billion dollars (over and above the library cuts.) The Health Department would shrink by 10%; Labor and Industry by 20%; and Public Welfare by $300 million. Even expenditures in the State Senate and State House are targeted for 10% reductions.

It’s easy to get lost in a blizzard of numbers at a time like this. But here’s what you need to know:
1. Demand for library services is up dramatically during this recession. Libraries all across Pennsylvania are busier than ever before serving people looking for work, families on tight budgets, and retirees grappling with shrinking savings. Budget cuts will reduce library services for the very people who need libraries the most.

2. Governor Rendell’s proposed budget reducing library funding will cost Pennsylvania nearly a million dollars in lost federal money. Likewise, cuts to library services under S.B. 850 would cost Pennsylvania many more millions of dollars in lost federal funds. (PaLA will post a specific projection on the website as soon as they are available have it.)

No better time than right now to contact every State Senator, State Representative, and the Governor with our message that libraries provide vital services to thousands in need of work, and that Pennsylvania should secure every last nickel of federal funding and not leave millions of federal library dollars on the table. You need to write a letter [in long hand] or phone in your support for public libraries. The alternative is a significant loss of programs, loss of services and loss of hours.
Here is a link to the Pennsylvania Library Association’s Website with more information www.palibraries.org. To find your legislator: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/find.cfm
As always, I am grateful for your passion and your persistence on behalf of our public libraries.

John Kelley
Executive Director
Phoenixville Public Library
183 Second Avenue
Phoenixville, PA 19460
Phone: 610-933-3013 x23
E-mail: jkelley@ccls.org

Create a Better World at Phoenixville Library This Summer

Summer is just around the corner. Actually, Summer Reading begins on June 8 at Phoenixville Public Library. This year's programs for children, teens, and adults will be extra special, as readers will be able to make a difference in the lives of the poor in other countries. You'll have the opportunity to turn every book you read into a donation to Heifer International, a nonprofit organization working to end hunger by helping impoverished families acquire and raise farm animals. Yes, you'll still have a chance to win prizes for the books you read. But this summer, it's the giving that really counts. For more information, see our website.