Yes, we have to give in a bit (okay, maybe a lot!). But when I wrote the last entry, I had no idea how steep the proposed budget cuts will be. It wasn't until I read the newspaper articles this weekend that the figure caught my eye - a 74% reduction in state aid to public libraries.
Eliminating duplicate databases is a reasonable course of action. Scrapping interlibrary loan - an enormously popular service - is not. Imagine telling a patron that we cannot get them a book that isn't owned by our system (and, as wonderful as our library is, there are plenty of them). That would be drastic. And that would be unacceptable.
The last governor did nothing with his position, did nothing to rectify the state's dreadful fiscal situation. I understand the current governor's desire to do something. But doing something takes considerable, careful thought. It does not involve taking a hatchet and chopping away at whatever services exist, but an examination of the consequences of the serious, drastic measures that are being proposed. And I hope, I pray, that the governor will do that. Because if he doesn't, then the people of the state are going to suffer.
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