More Bad Economic News For Family Historians

News coming out of Houston, Texas is that hours are being cut for the Clayton Public Library, this includes access to the Genealogy Library. In an announcement posted yesterday, the Clayton Library Friends posted the new hours. Remarkably, the libraries are closing on Friday!

Below is a portion of the announcement:

On Thursday, April 1st, 2010, Dr. Rhea Lawson, Director, Houston Public Library, presented a report to the City Council concerning a required reduction of operating hours in all Houston libraries (including special collections) due to drastic budget cuts city-wide. This proposal had already been approved by Mayor Parker prior to its presentation to council.

Effective April 17th, 2010, open hours at Clayton Library for Genealogical Research hours will be:
Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 10-6;
Wednesday 10-8;
Saturday 10-5;
Library CLOSED on Friday and Sunday

I don't even pretend to understand the reasoning behind this decision. In my experience, Friday and Saturdays are the busiest days for library research. Why they are closing on Saturday is an unfortunate mystery.

For the full announcement go to:

http://www.claytonlibraryfriends.org/Content-Public/Page-Edit/Page.asp?iID=-395381400

and, thanks to Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter for bringing this to my attention.

New Genealogy Library in Pensacola, FL

There is good news for genealogists, and GREAT NEWS for genealogists in West Florida. The Pensacola Public Library has announced the opening of the West Florida Genealogy Library in Pensacola. The Library will house the public library system genealogy collection and local history collection. It will also house the collection of the West Florida Genealogical Society.

With all of the bad economic news and so many library systems closing doors and cutting hours, it is heartwarming to read of a library opening.

The library opened its doors at 10 am on Tuesday, January 26, 2010.

For more details contact the Pensacola Public Library at:

www.cityofpensacola.com/library

Special thanks to Dick Eastman and Leland Meitzler for bringing this to my attention.

More Bad Economic News

The nightmare continues as two more state institutions have suffered significant budgetary cuts. It seems as though more and more states are looking to save money by eliminating their history. To say the least, this is a short sighted idea that only serves to harm the states in their long term.

Earlier this week, the State Historical Society of Missouri announced cutbacks in staff and hours as a result of budget with holdings of 25 percent for the 2010 budget. In the future the hours of the Historical Society will be from 8 to 4:45 Monday through Thursday. Researchers will no longer be able to work on Fridays or Saturdays. The change in hours will have enormous consequences on students and professional researchers. Genealogists traveling to conduct research will particularly suffer.

This announcement comes on the heels of the Governor of Massachusetts announcing the closing of the State Library. This institution has been open since 1826 and houses some of the more important documents in New England and Colonial American History. There is still hope to save the Massachusetts State Library, the friends of the library are circulating an electronic petition to present to the Governor. Simply go to the website to add your name to the petition to stave off the closing of the Massachusetts State Library.



http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/saveyourstatelibrary/?e



Please sign the petition and help save our history, and our libraries.