Dutchess County May Fail Libraries

I had already heard via email from Tom Lawrence, executive director of the Adriance Library, that Dutchess County funding for libraries was slated to be cut and that all friends of local libraries should protest the cut--but I thought "All services are likely to be cut in this financial collapse, so libraries are just part of the overall picture." Then I got another email, this time from the Millbrook chronicler Ilana Nilsen, that said that the budget from the Dutchess County executive would cut library funding by 65 per cent and arts by nearly 70 percent.  Now I realize that this is not just another part of the overall financial problem the county faces, but a deliberate step in the wrong direction.

When money is fails to flow into government coffers, it is because tax revenue is low, but tax revenue is low when fewer people are working, salaries are down for those who are, home values are dropping, and so forth.  But these are exactly the times when the FREE services of public libraries are most needed.  Surely there is some other way to save money that does not penalize the citizens as much. How about reducing salaries of County Executives?  

In any case, I just wanted to make sure that the readers of this blog are aware of the threat.  In a few days, the opposition party (to the Executive, although a majority in the County Legislature) is going to release its own version of the budget for the next fiscal year.  One can only hope that they appreciate the role of public libraries in a recession, or near depression, more than the County Executive does.  He lives in Pleasant Valley.  I wonder if he even has a library card.  A few years ago we discovered that none of the Pleasant Valley Town Council (of that time) had a library card, so it is by no means obvious that Steinhaus would have one.