Budget proposal had error on state library staffing
HARRISBURG - Apparently, doomsday has not arrived at the historic Pennsylvania State Library. In his February budget address, Gov. Rendell proposed chopping library funding in half, from $4.84 million to $2.39 million, a steep cut in a lean budget laden with across-the-board reductions.
HARRISBURG - Apparently, doomsday has not arrived at the historic Pennsylvania State Library.
In his February budget address, Gov. Rendell proposed chopping library funding in half, from $4.84 million to $2.39 million, a steep cut in a lean budget laden with across-the-board reductions.
But yesterday, Rendell said a figure published in his budget proposal that projected a 90 percent staffing reduction was wrong.
Rendell said he would never allow staffing to get to the point where the library would have to close.
He said the library's 50 percent cut would mean a similar staff cut - from 56 to about 28 employees. But more jobs could be preserved if savings can be found in other areas, said his spokesman, Chuck Ardo.
One of Pennsylvania's four major research libraries, the state library was founded in 1745 by Benjamin Franklin. Across the street from the Capitol, it houses the state law and education libraries, and has one of the largest newspaper collections in the country.
State Librarian Clare Zales said she was assessing the role of the library with the goal of trying to balance materials preservation and access.
Nevertheless, she said, with fewer employees, hours and services will be reduced.
Library advocates say there is little doubt the cuts will have a "negative impact" on services such as interlibrary loans and research requests.
"It's not an operation loaded with people sitting around doing nothing," said Glenn Miller, executive director of the Pennsylvania Library Association. He said the smaller cuts would be "clearly a step in the right direction, and we welcome it."
As to the budget book figure, Ardo said, "We are trying to determine exactly where that number originated and how it got into the book."
