Library leaders press for budget approval

A contingent of Oconee library leaders spent the day yesterday in Columbia in support of the budget request of the South Carolina State Library.  Part of the State Library’s budget each year is pass-through money, known as State Aid, for each County Library.  OCPL’s State Aid this fiscal year is$111,000. Each week during the legislative session, representatives from three or four counties visit the Capitol to talk to their state senators and house members and encourage them to support this budget.  Yesterday was also the day of the State Library’s budget presentation before a subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee.  Representative Bill Whitmire ( R-Oconee)  chairs the subcommittee in 2017. The contingent from Oconee County included Alicia Suddeth,  Chairman of the Library Board; Bill Caster, Vice Chairman of the Library Board; Blair Hinson, Branch Services Librarian for OCPL; Robena Barton, Technical Services Librarian for OCPL;Dan Polk, Branch manager for OCPL’s Salem Library and the director, Phil Cheney.