It is my opinion that there are very serious consequences to all citizens of Chesterfield County if the library budget is cut by 17 percent, or a reduction of $1.5 million dollars as is currently proposed.  The CCPL accounts for less than 1 percent of the total budget for the county.  Why cut the library budget so drastically?

Closing the libraries for one day a week as is proposed will have a detrimental effect on many library patrons, notably school age children looking for materials to supplement their school work; adults looking for education and job search materials; small business owners wanting access to professional resources such as résumé development, job bank web searches, and workshops on career information; young adults looking for after- school options; and everyone using the library as I do, for research and for leisure reading material.

As a retired journalism and English teacher at Thomas Dale High School, I worry that the resources available in the library will not be adequate for research that is demanded at all levels in the high-school curriculum beyond what is available in the school’s library. 

In addition, many students rely on the library for access to computers and the internet if they do not have these at home.  The lack of access will cause a greater disparity between those who have technology and those who do not, which will adversely affect a student’s performance. Students must leave the school grounds when school closes, and so lose their ability to use computers and the internet if it is not available at home.  The library is the place for student research and work. In addition, I learned recently that even McDonalds requires an online job application.  How is a student worker going to apply for part-time jobs with increasingly limited computer and internet access?

More than 350 groups use the library’s meeting rooms.  The ability to have community meetings in the library will be more difficult if the libraries are only open 48 hours per week.

Current up-to-date materials available to everyone including students will be less with such a drastic budget cut.  The collection’s size, quality, variety, and diversity will suffer.  There may be no new purchases of non-book items such as DVDs, CDs, magazines, and newspapers.  There will be less access to data bases and research materials.  The collection budget has not increased, but has just held steady over the last fifteen years because of minimal budget support in that period. 

The Chesterfield County Public Libraries are wonderful, exciting places.  Please ask the members of the Board of Supervisors to restore most of the budget to this indispensable county agency.

Elizabeth C. “Sunny” Reed
VP-Public Relations,
Friends of Chesterfield County Public Library