NJ Proposes 74% Cuts in State Library Aid, State Library Faces Merger

Disproportionate cuts in state support would jeopardize $4.5M in federal aid

• Database initiative would be axed
• Cuts hit libraries disproportionately
• Broadband funds jeopardized

For FY 2011, the state of New Jersey has proposed a drastic cut of 74% in library program funding from the FY 2010 appropriation, which State Librarian Norma Blake (the 2008 LJ Librarian of the Year) calls "unprecedented and disproportionate to other Departments’ losses." The cuts could jeopardize $4.5 million in federal funds.

Moreover, the state has proposed that Thomas Edison State College,  the distance learning institution that also houses the New Jersey State Library (NJSL), be merged with the New Jersey State Museum and governed by Rutgers University starting July 1, 2010. 

Broad cuts

In a widely circulated message, Blake delineated proposed cuts: 

$1.449 million, all the funding for databases under the much-praised New Jersey Knowledge Initiative (NJKI)
• $4.299 million, all the funding for Network Aid, including delivery, databases, interlibrary loan, and continuing education
• $1.170 million, all the funding for virtual aid, including databases and the public library JerseyConnect Technology System.
• $3.5 million in per capita state aid, nearly half of the allotment, leaving $3.676 million

Beyond the cut in federal aid, Blake noted that "if the cut to JerseyConnect is maintained, the State Library cannot accept the $7.5 million Broadband funds if awarded." The State Library, she wrote, has begun talks with the New Jersey Library Association regarding their mutual concerns.

Written by Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 3/17/2010 1:01:00 PM