California Community College Libraries
Face Budget Cuts
California community colleges are mounting a statewide campaign to get $98 million in funds earmarked for libraries and building improvements restored later this legislative session.
In an unexpected move, Gov. Gray Davis July 26 announced a new state-spending plan that reduces funding in an apparent attempt to balance a budget pinched by an economic slowdown and the state’s energy woes. Cuts to community colleges amounted to 20% of the $500-million in total cuts from the budget approved by the legislature earlier this year.
In May, Davis rejected legislation that would have increased spending by $20 million for libraries and maintenance at the colleges. He called his latest budget revisions “responsible . . . reliable. It hopes for the best but prepares for the worst.”
Steven Arvizu, retired Oxnard College president, said the library cuts mean a moratorium on book acquisition and computer upgrades. “Why would you want to cut back on the budget of something that is the best buy in America?” he said in the July 29 Los Angeles Times.
College officials hope that two-thirds of the Assembly will vote to restore the cut funds and the governor will agree, according to the August 1 Los Angeles Daily News.
Posted August 6, 2001.
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