Excerpt: [Library Director Barbara K.] Mistick blamed the library's woes almost exclusively on the state, telling RAD board members that aid had been cut by more than $2 million in the last two years alone. She said more cuts may be on the way, as the state itself tries to make ends meet.
"We're in a deeper hole than we were last year. This is extremely discouraging, as you can imagine," Ms. Lazo said.
Ms. Mistick added that the library had done everything it could to trim expenses, including cuts in staff and hours. She said there was not much left to chop, other than branches.
"If we cut, it's into muscle," she said.
The state has allocated a portion of the revenue from table games in Pennsylvania casinos to the library, but Ms. Mistick said that was not expected to kick in until 2011.
Even then, it's unclear exactly how much money it will receive, with estimates ranging from $200,000 to $800,000 a year. Even at the high end, that would not be enough to cover the expected deficit, Ms. Mistick noted.
RAD stopgap funding would allow the library to operate all branches and maintain the same hours, staff and services in 2011, she said. Without it, "I'm sure we would have to make some very difficult decisions," she said.
Related articles:
Ravenstahl calls Carnegie Library's finances into question. (5/28/2010)
City council approves $640,000 grant for library. (5/26/2010)
City council vote may save branches. (12/1/2009)
Pittsburgh's declining population major factor in library funding crisis. (11/8/2009)
Changes anger community. (10/31/2009)
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