Last Friday, the Pasco County Commission began reviewing the county's proposed budget for fiscal 2010. With the collapse of the Florida real estate-housing sector, on top of the nationwide economic slowdown, the county's projected revenue could fall about $37 million short of the planned spending in the $900 million-plus budget. Commissioners have received a list of proposed spending cuts meant to close the budget gap. "This is going to hurt a lot of people, seriously," County Commissioner Pat Mulieri said after pondering the cut list. ...more

June 17, 2009

Commissioner Jeff Carlson is absolutely right when he said the county libraries have become repositories of pop culture instead of actual libraries. ...more

June 12, 2009

Highlands Today has an article stating that Commissioner Carlson thinks that the county libraries should be used for research and not for pleasure. All we need is a politician telling us what we should read and do in the libraries that we, the public, bought and paid for. ...more

June 9, 2009

The public computers in Highlands County's three libraries were used 54,829 times last year. The average session length was 38 minutes. ...more

June 4, 2009

SEMINOLE HEIGHTS -- A replacement library for the Seminole Heights Branch Library is slated for future construction. In the final design, residents are hoping there will be room for a special addition — a bookstore. To qualify for a bookstore, library officials say the Seminole Heights library, 4711 N. Central Ave., must have a Friends of the Library group. The Southeast Seminole Heights Civic Association is spearheading an effort to form a Friends group within the next few months. ...more

March 26, 2009

The issue: Privatization of county government services. Our opinion: In some cases it makes a lot of sense, but officials should examine prospects carefully. ...more

March 22, 2009

At a time when they are being utilized more and more, local libraries are feeling the impact of a major budget squeeze from multiple funding sources. With the coming budget year threatening to produce more of the same, the leaders of north-county libraries have been exploring how they might work together to meet their patrons' needs. ...more

March 14, 2009

A second round of cutbacks in hours could mean all Pasco County library branches will close two days a week instead of one. ...more

March 6, 2009

Selected from a pool of 3,200 applicants, Pasco County Libraries director Linda Allen was one of 10 librarians nationwide to win this year's Carnegie Corp. of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award. ...more

December 27, 2008

There are thousands of places the state can save money this tight budget year, and reducing aid to public libraries may have to be among them. ...more

December 24, 2008