It’s now being said that the Pennsylvania State Library may get a 50% cut in funding. A cut of that magnitude almost shuts the library down – leaving a staff of only 6 people.
Note that this is just proposed. It hasn’t happened yet, but as the recession deepens, genealogists and historians worldwide can count on this type of activity being more and more common. States have budgets that, by law, must be met – unlike the federal government, where they just let the printing presses run a little longer…
I’ve heard from a number of genealogists who, although concerned about the recession, have noted that there is a bright side to it – that being that many of us will have more time to do genealogy, since we may not be working…
However – if the state facilities that house and give access to historical information are cutting services, using those facilities may not be an option… Of course, much depends on how bad things get. I’m in agreement with the president, who has basically told us that things are going to get worse before they get worse – stimulus package or not.
The following is from an article by Charles Thompson, printed in the February 12, 2009 edition of the Patriot-News.
There is another cut in Gov. Rendell’s proposed budget for 2009-10 that is starting to get a lot of notice: a 50 percent cut in funding for the State Library.
The governor’s proposed budget takes the library’s funding from $4.8 million this year to $2.3 million for the budget year starting July 1. Fifty-one of the 57 jobs would be eliminated, with one person transferred elsewhere in the state Department of Education.
That would leave a staff of six, presumably to maintain the existing stacks and keep some sort of public access to the facility…
Sad to say, that’s the future. As he pointed out, the state budgets must be balanced, and staff have to be let go to meet those goals.
I don’t know if you meant to say “Things are going to get worse before they get worse…” but you may be right on target. It is ironic that as the federal government scrambles to create jobs (at huge costs), states must lay people off from jobs that already exist.