Columbus Metropolitan Library Addresses $8.5 Million Budget Shortfall

Link to July 30 Columbus Dispatch article, "Hours cut as libraries make do".

Excerpt: Budget cuts prompted by lower state aid will mean no Sunday hours at most branches, employee pay cuts and reduced services at the Columbus Metropolitan Library.

Among the reduced services:

• 1988-level materials budget
• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours of operation on Friday and Saturday at all locations.

You don't have to be a Buckeye State resident to feel a keen sense of loss as Ohio's public libraries cut services and reduce staff.

Just to provide some perspective, only 2 public libraries in Wisconsin (Milwaukee and Madison) had a total 2008 income greater than $8,500,000.