Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 12, 1990 TAG: 9006120096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The report said the Lonesome Pine Regional Library System spent a third of its state funding on videotapes last year and has the largest videotape collection in the state behind Fairfax County, which serves seven times as many people.
In fiscal year 1988, the system spent $81,000 to buy videotapes and $64,000 to purchase books, said Kirk Jonas, deputy director of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.
"We saw a wide range of R-rated movies, horror movies, cartoons, you name it," Jonas told commission members. "They pay premium price for them."
The system, which serves Wise, Dickenson, Scott and Lee counties and the city of Norton, also has poorly trained personnel and is plagued by disputes among the five localities, he said.
While most libraries of the state reported an increase in book circulation from 1983 to 1989, the Lonesome Pine system had a decline. Juvenile-book circulation dropped from 256,046 to 178,335 over that period, and video circulation grew from 7,884 to 461,724.
Theda Gibson, director of the Lonesome Pine system for 25 years, said the report is full of errors. In a telephone interview, she said the system spent more on videotapes than books one year because a bookkeeper miscalculated how much money was available for book purchases.
Gibson, who is retiring next month, denied that her patrons prefer movies to books.
"Most of them also get books," she said.
by CNB