Funding for the Library of Virginia got sharply cut in the state's budget crisis.

By one account, the cumulative effect was a 28 percent reduction in General Fund support.

Rather than pass on the cuts to local libraries, the state library absorbed a disproportionate amount of the reductions internally. That meant a staggering 39 percent cut in the library's own operating budgets.

(Local libraries got hit with a 22 percent cut in state aid; that means less staffing, shorter hours and fewer book purchases in the localities.)

The state library has had to close on Mondays, trim its acquisitions budget almost in half, and lay off 40 employees, including 23 full-timers.

Nineteen other staff positions were kept vacant.

After a half century of publication, Virginia Cavalcade, a quarterly magazine of history and culture, had to be shut down.

Also eliminated were the Digital Library Program, preservation microfilming and the Center for the Book (the Center will get a new home, so it will survive).

The library also predicted significant delays in online research and reference requests, fewer educational programs and slower archiving.

The Library of Virginia Foundation Board promised to increase its efforts to raise individual and corporate funds to plug some of the gap. Checks should be sent to the Foundation at 800 East Broad St., Richmond, VA 23219-8000.