Trustees Discuss Funding Difficulties

Ten Library Trustees, representing the four libraries in Scott County, came together at the Scott County Library Headquarters in Eldridge for a Trustee Roundtable last evening. The discussion was lively, and focused primarily on the difficulty of providing quality library service on dwindling budgets. Of particular concern to the group was Senate Study Bill 3085, known informally as the "Essential Services Bill." There is growing concern that if libraries are on a theoretical "non-essential" list that funding from cities will continue to worsen. Directors LaWanda Roudebush (Davenport) and Faye Clow (Bettendorf) were also on hand to provide statistics and definitions to the group.

Other topics included the low reimbursement rate for programs such as Open Access and Access Plus, bills related to obscenity and filters, and the Libraries Together project.