Minnesota Eliminates
Its State Library Agency
The Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning announced June 4 that it was laying off six of the nine Roseville-based staff members of its Office of Library Development and Services (LDS), including Director Joyce Swonger, effectively eliminating the state library agency.
Although staffers were told the layoffs—which take effect June 28—were decided in February, apparently no legislator was informed, including members of the House and Senate oversight committees, according to an announcement circulated by LDS Library Development Specialist Bruce Pomerantz. In an earlier round of layoffs in March, said Pomerantz, LDS lost 5.5 positions, two of which were vacant.
The Minnesota Library for the Blind And Physically Handicapped and its 12 staff members, currently part of LDS but located in Fairbault, are unaffected by the move.
In an open letter, former LDS Grant Administrator Roger Sween noted that the action reduces the agency’s function to grant administration and abolishes its departmental library and the state’s role in public library development and fostering cooperation among the state’s libraries. Sween said that the cuts were made in response to a request by Gov. Jesse Ventura to reduce departmental expenses by 10%. He added that without a state library agency, Minnesota will lose its eligibility for federal library funds, which currently amount to $2.6 million annually.
However, Doug Gray, media relations officer for the Department of Children, Families, and Learning, told American Libraries that there was no indication the changes would cause the state to lose federal funding and that the agency planned to retain the departmental library.
The move makes Minnesota the only state without a state library agency. Gov. Gary Locke had proposed closing the Washington State Library earlier this year, but the state legislature saved the agency by recreating it as a separate department within the secretary of state’s office.
This story was updated June 11 to include Doug Gray’s comments and the information on the Minnesota Library for the Blind And Physically Handicapped.
Posted June 10, 2002.
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