Cyber-Fundraising and North Carolina Public Libraries.

In February 2002, Governor Michael F. Easley announced that North Carolina was suffering from a $900 million budget deficit. The Governor’s solution to this problem was to withhold $209 million in state payments to local governments, which in turn forced many to slash local budgets.1 Because public libraries are heavily subsidized through these revenues, budget cuts loomed ominously over North Carolina public libraries and their leaders. Libraries in western North Carolina were faced with losing as much as 50 percent of their funding.2