Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and the woman seated next to you on the plane could smoke her Virginia Slims all the way from Chicago to L.A., libraries were fully-funded and considered an essential for every community. Then came the financial crash, and the slash-and-burn began for library budgets. The American Library Association’s handy infographic shows the impact that library budget cuts have on the communities they serve—and shows how libraries are weathering the storm.
Read the 2012 Public Library Funding & Technology Access study, produced by the ALA and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
— Judy Hoffman, Office for Research & Statistics, American Library Association