What is the Budget Doing to Your Library?

In recent weeks, we have been focusing on some key programs that will be drastically affected by the state budget – Industry Partnerships, adult literacy, Child Care Works, Pennsylvania Commissions, and CHIP, among others. But there are other impacts, including local libraries. Under current proposals, 50 percent of library funding will be cut statewide, creating a significant reduction of services.

In Delaware County, where PathWays PA is headquartered, the library system shows the impacts they expect under the full SB 850 budget proposal. Included in these cuts are the eliminations of major research databases, the end of the Summer Reading program, and the end of Interlibrary loans, among others.

You can visit the websites of your local libraries to see what they are saying about the budget, or visit the website of the Pennsylvania Library Association. While you are at it, keep this in mind: the programs facing dramatic cuts or elimination under the proposed budget affect every Pennsylvanian. Please contact your legislators and finish this question: “If the choice is between reducing/eliminating spending on hospitals, libraries, Industry Partnerships, and childcare, or increasing revenues, I would support…”