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[Fwd: [alis] Bush slashes Library Funds]
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Sharon Centanne
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [alis] Bush slashes Library Funds
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 12:19:54 -0400
From: kmccook@tampabay.rr.com
Reply-To: kmccook@tampabay.rr.com
To: "Announcements from Library and Information Science"
<alis@lists.acomp.usf.edu>
Associated Press Texas Wire News
http://www.express-news.net/auth/ennews/ap/texas/d0655.html
Bush proposes slashing federal
spending on libraries by $39 million
Eds: New for PMs
DALLAS (AP) - President Bush's recent proposal to
slash federal spending on libraries by $39 million has
irked a national library group, which promises to
return
to Congress for more funding.
Bush's plan seems to clash with statements made by
first lady and former librarian Laura Bush, who kicked
off a national campaign for America's libraries last
week.
Laura Bush called libraries ``community treasure
chests, loaded with a wealth of information available
to
everyone, equally.''
Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the Washington
office of the American Library Association, said the
president's $168 million budget request - about $5
million less than President Clinton's request for
fiscal
2001 - is insufficient.
``Mrs. Bush understands very well how libraries are
serving this nation's communities,'' Sheketoff told The
Dallas Morning News for its Friday editions.
``Certainly,
the budget doesn't reflect that.''
Bush's cuts aim to eliminate initiatives specifically
inserted by members of Congress, said White House
spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo.
The cuts would include a $461,000 grant to Texas
Tech.
``It's not a reflection of his commitment to
libraries,''
Mamo said. ``The president has said repeatedly that
he's
committed to education and the reading initiative,
which
is a very large chunk of the budget.''
Of the $149 million distributed this fiscal year to
states based on population, Texas will receive nearly
$10
million to create programs or distribute to local
libraries.
The library association, which represents 61,000
librarians, requested $350 million in federal funds
under the Library Services and Technology Act.
The money is used to improve technology at libraries
and
provides outreach to certain groups, such as people
with
disabilities.
Library representatives say the $39 million cut is a
substantial portion of its federal funding.
They point out that the money could fund nearly 1.1
million hardcover books, 161,463 magazine
subscriptions or underwrite the cost of 867 librarians
at
an average salary of $46,000.
``We really thought if they were serious about
education, they would give us somewhere close to the
resources that are needed,'' Sheketoff said.
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