California legislators January 28 rejected a large midyear reduction to the Public Library Fund proposed by Gov. Gray Davis, allowing Ventura County (Calif.) Library officials to cancel service cuts and layoffs planned for mid-February.
“We’re grateful for this action by the legislature, and for the legislators’ comments on the value of public libraries to the residents of California,” Library Director Starrett Kreissman said in the January 29 Ventura County Star.
The library operates with a $9.1-million budget supported largely by local property taxes, parcel taxes, community block grants, bequests, and donations. The Public Library Fund formerly provided $750,000 to the library; this fiscal year the county planned on $403,000 in support, but Gov. Davis sought to cut that in half.
California lawmakers are still faced with fixing a $34.6-billion budget shortfall over the next 18 months.
Posted February 3, 2003.