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By MARK GUYDISH markg@leader.net
Thursday, March 06, 2003 Page: 1A
For the Record: 3/7/03 A front-page story Thursday gave an incorrect figure
for how much Luzerne County libraries would lose under Gov. Ed Rendell’s
proposed budget cuts. The amount lost would be about $859,211.
WILKES-BARRE – Proposed state budget cuts would cost Luzerne County
libraries $1.7 million, pushing the system back into an era of reduced hours,
limited purchases and technological stagnation, a local official said.
“It probably takes us back to pre 1998-99 levels,” said Diane Suffren,
Osterhout Free Library’s executive director.
Gov. Ed Rendell’s tentative budget reduces aid to libraries for a statewide
savings of $37.6 million. Suffren said it translates into local libraries
losing about half their state funding.
This comes after a brief but significant increase in state aid. For
decades, public libraries suffered from chronically low state funding compared
to other states.
Then, former Gov. Tom Ridge authorized dramatic increases. By 2001, state
money for libraries had more than doubled in just two years, from about $30
million to $62 million.
The new cash came with caveats – libraries had to extend hours, increase
purchases and secure more funding from local sources – but it was welcome. And
in some local libraries, usage went up.
Rendell has promised to present a second part of his budget that will
likely increase funding for some items, particularly education. But if the
library figures stay the same, Suffren expects county public libraries to cut
hours, eliminate programs and reduce purchases.
“And these are times library usage traditionally goes up,” Suffren said.
When the economy is bad, people head to libraries to polish resumes, network
on the Internet and learn new skills.
Osterhout, based in Wilkes-Barre, has seen circulation of books rise by 18
percent in the past two years. The number of people coming through the doors
has increased to about 200,000 – a 3,000 climb in the past year.
About 20,000 people used the Internet this year, and waiting lines are
common. When the library offers computer classes, the number of people
interested routinely exceeds the number who can be admitted, Suffren said.
The governor’s proposed budget would cut $434,000 from Osterhout’s roughly
$1.9 million budget. And that comes on top of a projected deficit this year of
$300,000 at the library, Suffren said.
The red ink developed because costs increased while funding remained
stagnant, Suffren said. Additionally, income from endowment funds was lower
because of the troubled financial markets.
The library has already dipped into some endowment money to cover general
operations, but many of those endowments have restrictions on how money can be
spent, Suffren said.
All of which means the library must depend more heavily on its ongoing
fund-raising campaign, Suffren said.
“Certainly, we can’t charge users to raise funds,” Suffren said.
Suffren is encouraging the public to write to their congressman to say more
library funding is needed.
Mark Guydish, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7161.