The debate over whether or not to close six branches of the Chatham-Effingham-Liberty Regional Library in Savannah, Georgia, was seemingly settled December 18 when the Chatham County Commission promised an additional $400,000 to keep the branches open in 1999. However, the amount is far less than the library needs for its 16-year, $96-million strategic plan to improve its services, and the library board now says it may need to resort to closing branches.
“We have less money this year for library operations than we did last year,” Library Director Lon Dickerson told the January 10 Savannah Morning News. “Obviously we are going to have to make decisions.”
Opponents of the closings were incensed when the newspaper revealed, through a Freedom of Information Act request, that library officials spent about $4,500 for two differing legal opinions on whether the board could sue Chatham County to retain control of its budget.
Posted January 18, 1999.