A reading dilemma

The budget passed today by the Legislature calls for a 9.1 percent cut in library funding, on top of the 21.8 percent cut absorbed last year by the state's libraries.

Will Pennsylvania end up paying more in the long-run for these cuts?

Studies have showed the importance of literacy but we still have major problems in the U.S.

The National Assessment of Adult Literacy showed that about 30 million Americans lacked even basic reading skills in 1992 and 2003, the years the assessment was taken, according to the National Center for Education Statistics' website.

Studies have also shown the correlation between literacy and the crime rate. Education helps, but education is important not only for our kids ä as Gov. Rendell promotes ä but also for our adults, too.

Libraries have been an important part of that movement.

A biography on Charles Lindbergh was the first book I ever checked out of the Hollidaysburg Area Public Library when I was first allowed to have my library card almost 40 years ago. My love for reading was nourished by my parents and supported by my hometown library and schools.

Education may not solve all of our problems, but education gives people opportunities to grow than they would without.

The Three State Recidivism Study found that the likelihood of re-incarceration went down 29 percent, when educational participation behind bars is the major factor, for inmates studied in Maryland, Minnesota and Ohio in 1995-96. For every $1 spent on education, it meant a $2 reduction in prison costs, the study reported.

Think about it.

If you help libraries, which have been long-time proponents of literacy since literacy is their business, you help reduce costs in other areas of the state budget ä ultimately trickling down to the county and local levels.

It may be a new concept: spending money to save a larger amount of money in the future and making safer communities.

What do you think?