Report: State Budget and Public Libraries

The Pennsylvania state budget is in the news again for the Legislature’s failure to approve it in a timely way, meaning by the July 1 start to the 2023-24 fiscal year. The governor’s proposed $44.4 billion total budget (www.budget.pa.gov), as is usual, includes state aid to public Libraries that meet PA Public Library Code standards. For 2022-23 the state approved a total Library budget that included $2,238,000 for the State Library in Harrisburg, $2,567,000 for services for the visually impaired and disabled, $3,071,000 for Library access, and $70,470,000 for the public Library subsidy. It is this largest and last portion that goes towards normal operating budgets for all 29 District Centers in the state and their member Libraries, including those of the Westmoreland Library Network…