Conn. Libraries Say $5.4M Cut Would Do Real Damage

By Everton Bailey Jr.

HARTFORD (AP) — Librarians across Connecticut say Governor M. Jodi Rell’s proposed $5.4 million funding cut for libraries would mean fewer books and basic services, drastically changing what libraries can do for their communities.

“We know this is a difficult thing, and that choices have to be made, but clearly there are better choices to be made than crippling our libraries,”’ said Kathy Leeds, director of Wilton Public Library and former president of the Connecticut Library Association.

The Republican governor and the Democrat-led General Assembly have been at odds over the budget and Connecticut has been without one since the fiscal year began July 1. The state faces a deficit of more than $8.5 billion over this fiscal year and the next.

Gov Rell’s most recent proposal includes cutting the state allocation to municipal libraries by $5.4 million. Included in the proposed cuts are reimbursements for interlibrary loans, grants for 165 public libraries, a digital catalog service that allows people to view and borrow from library catalogs statewide, and funding for library discounts on purchasing books, supplies, and training.

Library officials, who rely on state funding as a secondary source of income, say the cuts would have a devastating effect on their services. As well as acquiring fewer books, officials say, libraries would have to suspend the digital library service that allows patrons to borrow materials from libraries in other communities.

Among the proposed cuts is the suspension of funding for iCONN, the state’s online collection of research databases, which would save the state almost $2 million.

“If these cuts are passed, quite frankly, we would probably just have to do without,” said Scott Hughes, director of Bridgeport Public Library. “A lot of these services are just too expensive for us to pay out of pocket.”

Mr Hughes estimates only 20 percent of Bridgeport residents have a computer at home with Internet access and the library online services are needed now more than ever.

“We have a lot more people coming in now looking to use our facilities to look for jobs or to help them further their education,” he said. “These cuts would diminish a lot of the resources that come from within the library.”

Marian Amodeo, director of The Lucy Robbin Welles Library in Newington, said the cuts would change the role of libraries in communities throughout the state.

“The Connecticut library communities over the years have raised awareness of public libraries so much that they have become community centers for the towns and cities they are in,” she said. “At 10 o’clock in the morning, we have lines of people waiting to come in here. And I know our library is not unique in that regard, it happens all over the state.”

A spokesman for the governor’s office did not immediately return calls seeking comment.