State Funds Save City Libraries from Cuts

Increased state funding to Baltimore City will keep Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake from having to reduce hours at public libraries in an attempt to help eliminate a .

Rawlings-Blake's office announced Wednesday that an additional $1 million in state funding will keep neighborhood branches of the Enoch Pratt Free Library operating on their current schedules.

Library branches in , and Waverly would have seen their hours slashed if the state funding hadn't materialized. 

Ian Brennan, a spokesman for the mayor, said Rawlings-Blake has maintained that if the city received a larger amount of state funding, the first thing she would do is restore library hours.

Councilman Bill Henry, D-District 4, said he was pleased and grateful the mayor is restoring library hours in her preliminary budget.

"She said if there was more money available she'd [restore hours] and there was more money available and she did it," Henry said.

He said libraries are an important resource for kids, and making sure they have a place to go is also a public safety issue.

The move to reduce the hours at libraries had been announced as part of the mayor's plan to rein in the city's projected deficit.