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MBLC Celebrates 125 Years

1990

Governor Dukakis with library supporters

Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis speaks with library supporters in 1990.1


1990 Budget Crisis
"When Governor Dukakis signed the FY 1990 state budget into law, he cut $491 million from it. The MBLC hoped that it would be the last round of cuts, but in October the Board's administrative account was cut by $682,679." Total state funding in FY1990 to the MBLC was just $17,809,429.2

TODAY: Total state funding in FY2014 to the MBLC: $22,241,219.

What else happened in 1990?

  • Nelson Mandela was released from prison in South Africa after 28 years.3
  • Desert Shield began as the United States and the U.K. sent troops to Kuwait.3
  • Following the Berlin Wall falling, East and West Germany reunited.3
  • The hole in the ozone layer above the North Pole was first discovered.3
  • Tim Berners-Lee publishes a more formal proposal for the World Wide Web, and the first webpage was written.3

References:
1. Image from MBLC files.
2. One Hundred-and-First Annual Report of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, 1990.
3. www.thepeoplehistory.com [link].