When the state cut library budgets a while back, I began to study fundraising techniques. The only two we haven't tried here are pay toilets and slot machines.

The state, county, and local governments here really don't support us that well.

We try to balance the collection. The staff and I walk a tightrope, and there are occasional contests.

There are no community centers, no senior centers or youth centers. We have to serve all those purposes. We have become the community center, almost by default.

You can see from a case like this how the Medicaid system can have a substantial impact on county budgets.

The average family exists only on paper and its average budget is a fiction, invented by statisticians for the convenience of statisticians.