JMRL urges push for state funding

Jefferson-Madison Regional Library Director John Halliday urged the library trustees to appeal to Virginia Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, and Del. Steve Landes, R-Augusta, for support of two bills before the legislature that would funnel more state money to libraries.

Halliday made the recommendation at the JMRL Board of Trustees regular meeting Monday. Halliday said that even trustees from counties outside Landes’ and Hanger’s constituencies should approach the legislators.

“I think, in your role as a trustee, I think you can call and encourage them to restore full state aid,” he told the board.

The bills, if passed, will begin a three-year restoration to previous levels of state funding to local libraries. In a pamphlet distributed to the board, the JMRL showed that in 2001, the system had received $843,000 in state aid and was able to add 52,000 new books.

In 2011, the library was given $540,000 in state aid and added 31,000 new items.

Halliday told the board that the main function of state aid is to update and replace books, which, he said, is the library’s core function. The decade-long history of cuts has damaged the library’s ability to perform that function, he said.

“If we were at full state aid, we’d have another $500,000 a year,” he said.

Board member Gary Grant wondered if police forces and fire and rescue crews had faced similar cuts over the same timeframe. If that were the case, Grant said, it might be harder to appeal for library funding.

“What I don’t want to do is play firefighters off police off everybody else,” he said. “That doesn’t help anybody.”

Charlottesville-Albemarle NAACP President M. Rick Turner was before the JMRL Board Monday to discuss a joint scholarship and paid internship program between the two organizations. The program is designed to encourage local African-American students to consider a career in library work.

The program offers a $2,000 stipend in exchange for 200 hours of annual library work experience. Students in the program are also eligible for a $1,000 annual scholarship, bringing the program’s total value to $3,000 a year. The program is aimed at students who are pursuing an associate’s, bachelor’s or master’s degree.

With the fund established, Turner said, the next crucial step is properly marketing the program.

“This is a very positive step,” Turner said. “The next challenge is to sell the internship and publicize it so that people will take it seriously.”

JMRL Board of Trustees President Tim Tolson said that the fact that the scholarship provides money on an annual basis, not as a one-time award, should make it more attractive to students and guidance counselors.

“It’s toward them continuously pursuing a degree; it’s not just one-time money.”

The program will be publicized in schools and churches in the coming months.

The deadline to apply for the scholarship is April 6 at 5 p.m. Paper application packets may be turned in to Library Director, Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, 201 E. Market St. Electronic applications may be sent to Library Director John Halliday at halliday@jmrl.org.