Cyber-Fundraising and North Carolina Public Libraries

Abstract

In February 2002, Governor Michael F. Easley announced that NorthCarolina was suffering from a $900 million budget deficit. TheGovernor’s solution to this problem was to withhold $209 million instate payments to local governments, which in turn forced many toslash local budgets.1 Because public libraries are heavily subsidizedthrough these revenues, budget cuts loomed ominously over NorthCarolina public libraries and their leaders. Libraries in western NorthCarolina were faced with losing as much as 50 percent of their funding.2