Keywords
Citation
(1999), "Funds needed", The Bottom Line, Vol. 12 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/bl.1999.17012cab.005
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited
Funds needed
Keywords: Higher education, Buildings, Safety, Local government, Working conditions, Public finance
Montana State University is seeking $7.5 million from the state legislature to make improvements in its Renne Library. Among the improvements would be $5 million for life-safety and building-code improvements, including sprinklers, fire alarms, a security system. The safety problems are at the root of a lawsuit against the school.
The $30-million renovation of the Berkeley (CA) Public Library will have to be scaled back significantly unless the city council approves an additional $1.2 million. This change in plans, however, includes foregoing restoration of the terrazzo floor, glass block windows, and stenciled ceiling. These were important in gaining approval for the project from the city's Landmark Preservation Commission, which was needed since the library is on the National Register of Historic Places. Eliminating these features could cause the commission to veto the project.
After a five-month standoff with the city council, New York Mayor Rudolph Guiliani had released $22 million for library programs. But now he is calling for $591 million in new cuts for FY2000, including a cut of $37 million for public libraries. This despite a $1.6 billion surplus in the current fiscal year, thanks to a strong local economy. Meanwhile, on April 26, approximately 50 New York library workers campaigned for "livable wages" by distributing leaflets to passersby, exhorting them to support management's request to the mayor for a 15 percent increase in librarians salaries. The leafleting was part of a press conference held on the library steps and convened by Mark Green, public advocate, and the bargaining units for NYPL, Brooklyn, and Queens Borough library employees.