Pennsylvania public libraries all felt the sting of state budget cuts earlier this month, but the Martinsburg Area Public Library received a double whammy after legislators cut out the Access Pennsylvania program.
The library lost $14,000 through the program that reimbursed it for interlibrary loans, Library Director Joyce Paden said Wednesday. Martinsburg’s location near the Bedford and Huntingdon county lines made it an ideal participant, she said.
The cut in the state’s basic library aid took away another $6,000 for a total cut of $20,000.
The library is cutting 11 operating hours, which led to a reduction in hours for the two remaining employees after a part-time employee was let go. They also cut $6,000 from the library’s material budget, which left it at $10,000, she said…
The library is also looking to the past for help.
Reprinted copies of a previously out-of-print book titled “Martinsburg Centennial Souvenir” are for sale at $20 each thanks to help from the Blair County Genealogical Society, Paden said.
Read the full article by Amanda Clegg in the October 29, 2009 edition of the Altoona Mirror.
