From Library Journal:
After nearly 100 days of deadlock on the Pennsylvania state budget, legislators last week agreed to a compromise, including a 26.7% slash in state support for libraries, from $93,246,000 to $68,322,000, cutting back on direct public library aid and even more so on statewide services.
Given the national economic downturn, and particularly Pennsylvania’s painful situation, the cut was seen by library advocates as a “could have been worse” situation. At one point, a 55.3% cut was considered, and Philadelphia, anticipating a “doomsday” budget if the legislature refused to approve a new sales tax, planned to shut all its libraries down.