All too often we are reporting reduced hours and access to archives, libraries and other repositories. It's nice for once to report that what were reduced hours will be expanded hours come July!
Per The Virginia Genealogical Society Newsletter, March 2017, reprinted here with the permission of the Virginia Genealogical Society, we learn …
VIRGINIA
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
by Peter
Broadbent
The
Virginia General Assembly concluded its regular session on February 25 and,
thanks to the efforts of the genealogical community, provided enough increased
funding for the Library of Virginia to allow it to re-open six days per week,
commencing in July.
The final
budget amendments added $428,000 to the Library’s budget for the year July 1,
2017- June 30, 2018, to allow it to hire 9 staff to re-open six days per week.
In addition, a separate amendment added $150,000 for the same period to allow
the Library to hire 2 critical mid-level personnel. The Library had originally
requested $300,000 to hire 4 key personnel, but in a bad budget year, getting
all that the Library asked for in the re-opening amendment, and half for the
key personnel amendment, has to be deemed a significant victory.
Librarian
of Virginia Sandy Treadway has indicated that if she only received funding for
two of the key positions, these will be the private papers archivist and the
digital collections manager. The sole private papers archivist to be hired will
face a backlog of 4,500 cubic feet of private papers to be catalogued and made
accessible. In addition, there was budget language added that if future budget
reductions are necessary, the Library’s rent which it pays to the Department of
General Services (and which accounts for a large proportion of the Library’s
core budget) will not be exempt as it currently is. Hopefully no further budget
cuts will occur, but if this language is continued in future budgets, it could
be very helpful to the Library long-term to reduce the impact of any
future cuts (a 5 % nominal cut to the
Library’s budget has resulted in a 6.5 % or more actual cut since the Library
has not been allowed to cut its rent).
The Library
of Virginia budget amendments are neither controversial nor relatively large,
so it would be very surprising to have the Governor veto them. So we can
reasonably expect that these budget amendments should go into effect on July 1.
The funds
under the state budget will become available on July 1- so the Library cannot
re-open six days a week until then - but the Library can start to plan and make
hiring effective as of that date.
The
genealogical community owes special thanks to its House budget amendments
patron, Del. Jimmie Massie of Henrico County, and its Senate budget amendments
patron, Senator Jill Vogel of Fauquier County. While all of the House
Appropriations Committee members supported the Library’s amendments, special
thanks are due to Delegate Kirk Cox of Colonial Heights (designated to be
Speaker of the House commencing in 2018) and Delegate Tag Greason of Loudon
County, who as House budget conferees responsible for education, were able to
help push through the House amendments for additional key LVA personnel.
Have any news about archives reducing or expanding? Please share with us.
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