West Virginia communities spend less per person on their public libraries than all but one state in the country, creating a funding “crisis of major proportions,” the State Library Commission was told March 1 by a consultant hired to study the state's public libraries.
Bill Wilson, of Himmel and Wilson, warned that unless local governments start allocating more money for libraries, some may have to close, according to the March 2 Charleston Gazette. The report also stated that many collections are outdated and undersized, but noted that “people are struggling hard to make do with what little they have available.”
The consultants recommended the development of a “partnership” funding strategy aimed at increasing both state and local funding to the national average, with half coming from the state and half from local revenue sources. The consultant's report, Directions 2000, is available on Himmel and Wilson's Web site.
Posted March 8, 1999.