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Stonewall Library and Archives faces reduced public funding by Joseph Erbentraut
EDGE ContributorTuesday Aug 25, 2009As sparse economic times continue to force municipalities nationwide to re-prioritize their spending in an effort to avoid major deficits, government support for the arts is usually among the most vulnerable to budget cuts. South Florida is no exception to the trend as the Broward County Commission has recently proposed a 30 percent reduction-more than $1 million-in grants for arts organizations and cultural attractions in its 2010 budget.
Fort Lauderdale’s Stonewall Library and Archives, the largest independent LGBT circulating library in the nation with more than 18,000 books and audio-visual materials, is among the dozens of organizations that stand to be affected by the budget cuts.
The library’s executive director, Jack Rutland, addressed the cuts in a recent announcement distributed to the organization’s mailing list. He asked the library’s supporters and patrons to contact Broward County commissioners to reconsider the drastic cuts which would be "detrimental to Broward’s rich cultural landscape."
While obviously concerned with the grant reduction, Rutland said the Stonewall Library, which receives 10 percent of its annual operating grant from the county, was in a better position to cope with the cuts than other institutions in the area. He did not expect the library’s services or programming to be adversely affected.
"It’s not going to shut us down, but I’m sure other organizations won’t be able to operate without the grants," Rutland told EDGE. "We need to continue contacting elected officials to take a second look at this and recognize we’re an important part of the community."
"It’s not going to shut us down, but I’m sure other organizations won’t be able to operate without the grants." Rutland said colleagues throughout the country have been struggling with similar cuts for some time, which had alerted the library to dwindling funding. In preparation, Stonewall staff sought to diversify programming and look outside of the county for additional support.
"I think we’ve been aware of this coming for some time," he shared as he noted funding from individual donors, corporations, other grants, membership and special events supported the bulk of the library’s budget. "[The situation] has taught us a lot about fundraising. It’s making our jobs more exhausting but we’re doing it."
Broward has a $109 million deficit. And other county agencies are expected to face a 10 percent cut in funding. This shortfall could result in libraries closing on Sundays, regional parks closing on Wednesdays and 250 county employees losing their jobs. The state almost entirely eliminated cultural programming from its 2009-2010 budget. Tallahassee lawmakers allotted $1 million for cultural and museums and $200,000 for historical preservation grants.
Rutland said he was aware agencies outside of the arts were also experiencing problems with funding and was not envious of the county’s budget decisions, which should be finalized next month.
"I attended a county hearing last week, and every agency that came to talk is suffering and being asked to cut staff -the port authority, the police, everyone," Rutland said. "I would not want to be in the commissioner’s office making these decisions because we’re all important to life in the region. We’re all saying the same thing."
Joseph covers news, arts and entertainment and lives in Chicago.
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