Devastating budget cuts proposed for libraries
After suffering devastating budget cuts last year, the Fairfax County library system is facing even more draconian cutbacks in the county’s fiscal year 2011 budget, including reduced hours and layoffs.
If the board of supervisors approves the proposed 15 percent cut in the library budget, this is what you can expect, beginning in July:
- Library hours would be reduced by eight hours a week. This means the George Mason Regional Library in Annandale (pictured) would only be open two nights a week and wouldn’t open until 1 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, a library spokesperson says.
- Weekend references services and telephone services would be eliminated, and computer assistance for job seekers would be substantially reduced.
- The budget for materials would be cut by 20 percent, which means the library will purchase fewer children’s books, magazines, reference materials, and other items.
- There will be fewer events at the library, such as reading programs for children. Community meeting rooms will not be available when the library is closed.
- Home delivery service to people with disabilities would be eliminated, as well as deliveries to nursing homes and senior centers.
- The personnel budget would be cut by $3.5 million. This means about 107 staff positions would be eliminated, including six at George Mason.
These cuts are on top of an 18 percent budget for 2010, which reduced library hours by eight hours a week, eliminated 306 part-time positions, and cut $1 million in materials acquisition.
Friends of Fairfax Libraries urge county residents to sign a petition urging the board of supervisors not to support these proposed funding cuts. The petition notes that “the library provides the only computer access some public school students have to complete their homework assignments.”
11 responses to “Devastating budget cuts proposed for libraries”
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These cuts are sad but necessary. The Democrats "we" elected have overspent for years in this county. Now this has trickled down to us in services we actually take advantage of. Get used to it. We have to face cuts as a reality of Democratic overspending when all of our property values soared. Now that they have plummetted it is time to face the must (i.e be responsible.)
I do love my local GM library, and it's great that it provides a place for people to read and study. It almost restores one's faith in humanity…BUT, you can get so much reading done on the internet now for free, and printed materials are so cheap and readily available now…isn't this honestly an area where we can make gov't cuts relatively painlessly? State, local and federal gov't are all running deficits.
Aren't libraries supposed to be helping us bridge the digital divide? Not everyone has a computer at home.
Paying for libraries to promote the primary goal, universal literacy, is one thing. The internet at the library is a great plus, too. But do taxpayers really need to fund web-surfing for people who can't afford PCs? Anyway, the PCs are cheap…donated. The real expenses are the workforce.
We visited our local public library on a weekend recently and it was packed! It was heartening to see the diversity of the clientele and the intensity of their use of this enduring American institution. One young man struggling with English approached me with a question, although I had my winter coat on and obviously wasn't an employee. The staff was spread so thin that there were long lines waiting for help.
Used things, including books, are so cheap nowadays for frugal people, if not free. People throw out unused books, you can buy them at the thrift store, or on craigslist, and I'm sure the library gets donations and lots of cheap and free books, so the cutback in materials shouldn't hurt. People don't need the internet. I don't see why you need telephones in the library either. The cut back in hours may be tough, but people who need the services can adjust. And special reading events for children are done through the school already. I don't think they should have DVDs and CDs at the library at all. They must be very expensive. The layoffs are the most regrettable part
And layoffs mean fewer hours and fewer hours make it hard for people who work 2 jobs to get their kids to the library to get not only the materials but the research assistance that their kids need.
School libraries are being seriously cut, too. The public libraries are having to take up the slack.
Unlike some here, I believe libraries are a necessity not a tax-payer funded luxury for those who can neither afford a computer nor be frugal enough to find good book buys.
Libraries speak to a community's belief in the power of learning and the exchange of ideas.
And I am prepared to pay more, if need be, to prevent these severe reductions.
I love my libabries.
First off, what does Friends of Fairfax Libraries suggest we cut instead? Are they suggesting we cut more from FCPS? Or emergency services? Or whose taxes would they raise and by how much? Quite frankly, I am getting a little tired of the petitions that ask county residents to help "Save our ____" without offering up alternatives. It is not that I think that libraries or Elementary Band and strings or Foreign Language in Elementary Schools or freshmen sports are useless things. But we need to prioritize and cut or raise taxes. So before you ask me to sign a petition, tell me how much you are proposing to raise my taxes or what else you would like to cut instead.
Secondly, the definition of devastating, according to Webster, is "to reduce to chaos, disorder, or helplessness". While the cuts to the libraries would be deep, painful and severe, they would not be devastating. Let's use a little less hyperbole when discussing issues of such great importance.
I couldn't agree with Dave more about the overuse of petitions to "save our …" At what expense? What else should we cut? If you support paying more taxes (I don't!) you can! Send in extra money this year on your tax return but don't raise my taxes.
I also think, somehow, someway, Annandaleans will survive and the world will not come to a crashing end because a few hours are cut from the libraries. I have kids and don't like this anymore than anyone else, but as the economy slowly improves these services will be slowly restored. For now, the county credit card is simply maxed out and we need some fiscal sanity.