The State Budget & Library Funding

A Message from our Director...

There are two budget proposals being debated in Harrisburg right now. Both would directly affect our library’s bottom line. Gov. Rendell’s proposal would cut State aid to libraries by 2.3% and cut our reimbursement for serving neighboring Montgomery Co. residents by 4%.

The State Senate proposal would cut State aid by 51%, and out of county reimbursement by 100%, costing our library an estimated $50,000, or 15% of our current budget. With the current economic climate and everybody fighting for the same scant resources, this is not an amount that we can readily replace.

Even a “compromise” between the two plans could be devastating to the daily operations of the library. We would have less money available to purchase new materials, less availability of state-funded Power Library databases, and would most probably have to cut daily services in other ways that would be readily apparent to all.

We encourage ALL of our patrons, from Berks AND Montgomery counties, to contact your state representatives through e-mails, letters or phone calls and insist that they maintain level funding for libraries in 2010. No area community resource is used more than our library, and in tough economic times, that usage only increases.

For more information please contact
Library Director, Mark Sullivan
by email: boyertowncl@berks.lib.pa.us or by phone: 610-369-0496.