Florida’s five regional multi-type library cooperatives (MLCs) are looking to raise awareness of how their work impacts services provided by the state’s public libraries, after Republican Governor Rick Scott vetoed Florida’s annual funding renewal for the organizations on April 18. During the fiscal year beginning in October, the cut will affect the Northeast Florida Library Information Network (NEFLIN) in Orange Park, the Panhandle Library Access Network (PLAN) in Panama City Beach, the Southeast Florida Library Information Network (SEFLIN) in Boca Raton, the Southwest Florida Library Network (SWFLN) in Fort Myers, and the Tampa Bay Library Consortium (TBLC) in Tampa.
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About Matt Enis
I was shocked with Florida Governor Scott’s veto of the Multitype Library Cooperative annual grants for 2012-2013. Having been State Librarian of Florida when the program began in the early 1980’s I always felt that the grassroots-based rather than top-down establishment of the cooperatives gave them the best chance to compete against other needs in Florida. And indeed they grew moderately over the years to provide a statewide program for continuing education, statewide inter-library loan delivery and e-book distribution. All of this for a very moderate amount of money and economical use of staff! Ten years after my retirement I thought this was one of the best programs to continue because of its stability and economy. I do hope the library community will do everything in its power to see that the program is restored for the next fiscal year.
Barratt Wilkins
In his budget, Governor Scott zero funded the Multitype Library Cooperative annual grants for 2012-2013. The Florida Legislature added 1.5M into the budget. So, it should not have been a surprise when Governor Scott used his line item veto to erase the funding that he did not propose. It is now time to move forward fom the early 1980s and reconsider the costs and benefits provided by the Multitype Library Cooperatives. Many libraries are not members of the Multitype Library Cooperatives and the financial message is clear from the top (Governor Scott and not the former State Librarian trying to hold onto his legacy) that it is time for a change.