This morning by chance I listened to a discussion on Minnesota Public Radio's Midmorning show about the funding crisis in Minnesota public libraries. This finding crisis was precipitated by the State Auditor arbitrarily classifying libraries as "non-essential services" and recommending that the Governor cut the state funding for these services. It's possible to hear this discussion with the RealOne player (scroll down to March 13, hour one). It was a very interesting discussion and it was gratifying to see how strong support which libraries are getting in the community - it's a shame that this support is falling on deaf ears at the State Capitol.These problems couldn't have come at a worse time for the Minneapolis Public Library, which is in process of building a new central library building. Its old premises have just been demolished and it is currently renting a temporary (& inadequate) space until its new building is ready. Because of this funding crisis, there is the possibility that the size of the new building will be scaled back or its construction delayed. It is ironic that one of the reasons why the old library building was inadequate and did not age well was because of similar funding short-cuts which were taken when it was built - according to Kit Hadley, the new director of the Minneapolis Public Library, who was the guest speaker on today's Midmorning show. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has provided good coverage of this issue. Here's a brief chronology - *The Minneapolis Public Library faces a $25 million shortfall in its operating budget over the next 10 years
*Columnist Doug Grow: "No one, Minneapolis leaders say, could have predicted that Minnesota would elect a governor who would smile kindly, then slash such programs as Local Government Aid. LGA money has accounted for 43 percent of the library's operating budget, according to Laura Waterman Wittstock, chairwoman of the Library Board."
*Q & A with Kit Hadley: "Think about the library's role in democracy. Every country has a police infrastructure, but not everyone has free information."
*Editorial: "the downtown [library] project was once conceived as part of a four-block development, which then was reduced to two, then to a single block, then without a planetarium -- and now even the bare bones may not survive."
*The Minneapolis Public Library's finance committee rejected Kit Hadley's plan to close four branches. The library's funding shortfall will addressed by across-the-board cuts.
7:20:33 PM 
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