Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge announced February 6 that his 2001–02 budget would include $94 million for the state’s public libraries, including $75.3 million in direct state aid. The $13-million increase amounts to a boost of nearly 21% over last year.
“We continue our unprecedented commitment to public libraries—places where our families gather to share the joy of reading and learning together,” Gov. Ridge said. “We want to give our libraries more and better collections, longer hours, world-class catalogs and databases, and improved services for customers. I’m proud that Pennsylvania now ranks among the nation’s top three states for support for libraries.” The governor’s office noted that state library funding has nearly tripled since he took office in 1995.
The budget also includes $25 million for the third year of the Read-to-Succeed program to help children learn to read at grade level by the end of third grade; and $19.7 million for adult and family literacy, a 9.6% increase.
Posted February 12, 2001.