I'm not happy about the closure as this will make it much harder for me to do research. But I'm also very sorry to hear about the staff reduction. I wish the best to all those affected directly by these budget cuts.
Kirk Johnson
Serials Manager
Prince William Public Library System
13083 Chinn Park Drive
Prince William, VA 22192-5073
(703) 792-4883
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-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ginny Gotlieb
Sent: Tuesday, November 1, 2016 5:32 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Library of Virginia reading room closures
😥😥😥
So sorry about the staff loss. And sorry to lose Saturday and Monday because I come from out of town and it is hard to come mid week.
On Tue, Nov 1, 2016 at 10:09 AM, Deal, John (LVA) < [log in to unmask]> wrote:
> The reading rooms of the Library of Virginia will be closed on
> Saturdays and Mondays starting November 14, 2016. The move is a result
> of the drop in recent revenue projections, which led to Governor
> McAuliffe reducing the operating budgets for executive agencies by 5
> percent for the current fiscal year. The Library had no option but to
> turn to staff cuts to absorb the 5 percent operating budget reduction.
> With the loss of 18 employees, the Library is unable to keep the reading rooms open six days a week.
> Effective November 14, 2016, the reading rooms will be open Tuesday
> through Friday from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM.
>
> "The decision to close the reading rooms was made reluctantly but
> providing effective service on Saturdays and Mondays for patrons
> without adequate human resources was no longer possible. Since the
> Governor's announcement of the staff reductions at the Library of
> Virginia I and other members of the Library Board have been contacted
> by members of the general public who are very upset about these staff
> reductions," said R. Chambliss Light, Jr., chairman of the Library Board.
>
> Librarian of Virginia Sandra G. Treadway said, "Closing on Saturdays
> and Mondays is necessary because of the loss of 12 full time and 6
> part time employees. Suspending our Saturday hours and closing our
> reading rooms on Mondays is heartbreaking for us, but is necessary. It
> will make it difficult for citizens who do research in the Library's
> unique holdings; however, we will continue to offer our constituents
> alternative avenues to information. When the Library is not open,
> citizens can still access numerous reference and research resources
> through the Library's main website (www.lva.virginia.gov) and also via
> Virginia Memory ( www.lva.virginiamemory.com)<http://www.lva.virginiamemory.com)>."
>
> Other service areas will also be affected. It will take longer, for
> example, to fill orders for digital images of material in the collections.
> Training for state and local records officers will be offered less
> frequently, and response times for records management-related
> questions may be extended. Moreover, it will take longer to provide
> access to new collections, and the Library's ability to offer
> programming will be diminished.
>
> The agency will remain open from Monday through Friday. Full-time
> public service staff will continue to respond to mail, email, and
> telephone requests and will pull materials to fulfill research,
> photocopying, and digitization requests. This work will primarily be
> done on Mondays, since there is not sufficient staff coverage to
> complete this work when the reading rooms are open to the public.
>
> If you would like more information about the Library, please visit our
> website, www.lva.virginia.gov.
>
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________
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>
--
Ginny Gotlieb
818-635-5764
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