Check It Out
by ALLEN FISHER
Headlines last month revealed that some legislators were “startled” by the first draft of the state budget, but I was appalled when I saw that it eliminates funding for state library programs.
These proposed shutdowns would drastically compound the effects of cuts to public education, and alternatives to the public school system would also suffer greatly. Two programs to be de-funded are the TexShare Library Consortium, which gives us access to a staggering wealth of online information, and the K-12 Database Program. Savings from cutting state funding for these two resources would total $13 million, or roughly one percent of the projected two-year fiscal gap.
We must insist that our political leaders make a priority of investments that support the future development of our communities. One way to achieve economies of scale is with public money, and refusing to spend it on such extraordinarily productive programs is bad economics as well as bad public policy. According to an American Library Association formula, the Buda Public Library provided $11.31 in services for every dollar spent on it from public sources in fiscal 2010, a return of over 1100 percent! That was bettered on the state level, the Texas Library Association reports: “Through centralized statewide purchasing, TexShare offered almost $14 worth of subscriptions for every $1 spent in 2010.”
But Americans have never expected government to do it all, and financial support for community goods and services comes from both taxes and donations. Join the Friends of the Buda Library: [email protected].
