Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 8, 1992 TAG: 9201080146
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
LIBRARIANS PLAN WIDE TURNOUT ON FUND ISSUE
Remarks by Gov. Douglas Wilder on future state funding of public libraries isgoing to bring library supporters out in force Thursday for the first public hearing ever held outside Richmond on a proposed state budget."We spend approximately $10 million each year on a safety net program for Virginia's truly needy called general relief. We spend a like amount on aiding public libraries. Can we afford to do both at current levels?" Wilder said Dec. 16 when he spoke to the the Senate Finance Committee and House Appropriations Committee.
"If not, would it be better to fully fund one program and delete the other, or would it be better to fund both at reduced levels? These are the choices," hesaid.
Wilder went on to say that another $20 million would be required to maintain the Center for Innovative Technology at current funding levels for the next biennium to maintain Virginia's leadership in technology-based business.
Library supporters are concerned that Wilder means to reduce or cut funding to public libraries to support CIT, Michael Gilley, director of the Wythe- Grayson Regional Library, said Tuesday.
Public library directors throughout Southwest Virginia are planning to flood Thursday's hearing - which starts at 1 p.m. at Wytheville Community College - with supporters for library services.
"This is not a routine affair. We do need to attend and bring library supporters," Tazewell County Library Director Laurie Surface said in a facsimile letter sent to all public library directors in Western Virginia.
They will scarcely be alone. Educators, social services workers and people involved in planning for highways and other programs receiving state funds are likely to turn out in force.
The hearing is for all of Western Virginia. The other three hearings to follow will be held in Falls Church, Norfolk and Richmond.
The Grayson Hall Commons, where the hearing will be held, holds a maximum of 200 people.
Public libraries are not entirely funded by the state. They get money from localities and such agencies as United Way in many places. But Gilley said the state money is what is spent for buying new books and tapes.
Without it, he said, there would not only be no new materials, but subscriptions to magazines and newspapers would have to be dropped.
"We're having problems, with the budget cuts we've already received, just keeping the status quo," he said.
One way libraries have cut some costs has been by forming the Southwest Information Network Group, which covers 65 public, school, college and special libraries. SWING is able to bid as a group on supplies and materials, for example, and get better discounts.
State aid to libraries has been distributed under a formula approved by the General Assembly in the early 1970s. Because of state budget cuts, it is being funded at 85 percent.
It can be used only for books or other library materials, equipment and salaries of library professionals, and more than 75 percent of it goes for books and materials.