And adding insult to injury?
"To be certified, communities must meet multiple standards, including a requirement that they increase library budgets each year by 2.5 percent"
This as the STATE WHACKS LOCAL AID to the BONE and TOSSES TAX MONEY OUT the DOOR?
Also see: Ssssshhhhhh!: Pension Being Drawn
"Library budget cuts put book borrowing at risk" by Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff | March 16, 2009
WAREHAM - At a time when libraries are more popular than ever, residents in cities and towns across Massachusetts risk losing many of their borrowing rights as communities consider cutting library budgets below minimum levels set by the state.
Yeah, you are ONLY PAYING FOR THEM with your TAXES, but....
That would jeopardize their certification with the Board of Library Commissioners, triggering a double penalty: They would no longer be eligible for the state grants that round out local library budgets, and their residents would be deprived of the ability to borrow from most other public libraries....
In the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1, dozens more communities could fail to meet the minimum standards for library spending and operating hours needed for automatic recertification.... "I am furious," said Susan Pollard, a Wareham resident who tried to reserve a book online from neighboring Rochester last week but was rejected.
After getting laid off from a corporate job a few weeks ago, Pollard, 55, an Army veteran, joined a book club to stay busy and meet people. But Wareham did not own her book club's selection, the Colonial thriller "Bound," and others would not lend to Pollard because her hometown had cut its library budget almost in half, by nearly $300,000 over the past year.
It was another example of the effects of the economic crisis, and the resulting strain on public budgets and everyday lives. Libraries are losing funding even as demand grows. In a weakened economy, people are turning to libraries not only for books, but for movies and music, programs for adults and children, museum passes, and online access. With more people unemployed or dropping home Internet service to save money, a growing number rely on the library to check e-mail, prepare resumes, fill out government forms, finish homework, and search for jobs.
Loss of certification hurts now more than ever. Rather than kill libraries, the Internet has linked them and enhanced their popularity....
Given the many financial blows, the Massachusetts Municipal Association has called for lawmakers to relax the certification requirements enforced by the Board of Library Commissioners.
Robert C. Maier, director of the state library board, said the board understands local budget pressures, but standards must stay in place to avoid gutting libraries, which make up less than 2 percent of most local budgets.
The library is "not a frill," Maier said. "It's an essential service that people need, just as much as they need services from the department of public works, from the fire department, from the police department, from the schools."
When cities and towns must cut libraries, though, the state board will grant waivers to preserve their certification - as long as that community can demonstrate that the library budget has not been singled out for unusually deep cuts. This year, the board granted 22 of 26 requests, rejecting only those towns that stripped library funding disproportionately to other departments.
Even in communities where budgets have been sheared and hours reduced, patrons and employees called their libraries a place of refuge in turbulent times.... Brockton has maintained certification by demonstrating that library cuts were not out of line with those to other departments. But the current deficit means many more cuts are needed; this time the library could suffer disproportionately....
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