Library funding saved -- Electronic resources had been targeted

By CHAD SMITH
chad.smith@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 05/04/09

Librarians and patrons celebrated Sunday night after word came that a joint State Legislative budget committee put back in approximately $21 million for public libraries.

"You did it! The people of Florida roared -- and the state's leaders listened!" declared the Web site of the Florida Library Association.

It was good news for the St. Johns County library system, which was looking at cut backs to electronic resources including databases if the state withdrew funding.

Around 7 p.m. Sunday the Joint Budget Conference chairs decided to put the money back in after agreeing on a funding source, according to the FLA.

"In every part of the state folks stepped up, got engaged and made this happen ... we have seen signs of extensive networks and efforts in the smallest towns in the state," wrote Charlie Parker, past president of FLA.

St. Johns County spokeswoman Karen Pan said the library gets about $140,000 from the state, amounting to about 2.7 percent of its $5.2-million budget.

Coupled with the cuts from the county -- an anticipated 11 percent cut next fiscal year on top of a 10 percent cut this year -- the strain on the library would only get worse, said Debra Rhodes Gibson, the director of the St. Johns County Public Library.

"It's not small change," she said. "It really isn't."

The state dollars go toward subscriptions to online databases, downloadable books and other electronic resources, while physical books are purchased with the county allotment, she said.

The databases in particular would be a significant loss, she said, because many of students, in grade school or college, depend on them for research.

Last year, the library branches' operating hours were cut an hour and a half a day and the branches that were open Sundays went to six-day weeks. Two of the branches are only open five days a week.

At the same time, Gibson said, the branches have been increasingly popular for the same reasons the state might cut funding: the economy.

She said registrations are up 8 percent over last year as some residents cancel their Internet services or stop making trips to video rental stores for DVDs.

"They're using all of those services that we have free," she said.

The crisis began on the last day of April, which has been declared Library Appreciation Month by the governor, when the joint budget committee agreed to cut the roughly $21 million the state doles out to public libraries.

The Florida Library Association quickly put together public relations and call-your-lawmaker campaigns.

On Saturday, lawmakers tentatively agreed to restore the library funding, though nothing will be set in stone in the Capitol until Friday. They bogged down when the Senate was not willing to accept the funding source proposed by the House.

The Florida Library Association on Sunday was asking librarians to again get supporters to call and e-mail the Legislature.
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Reporter Marcia Lane contributed to this story.

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