George Vogt, director of the Wisconsin Historical Society, will resign in July to head a private museum and library in Delaware. Vogt’s announcement came only one week after drastic budget cuts were made to the Historical Society and other state libraries.
After serving as the museum’s director since 1996, Vogt will now serve as head of the Hagley Museum and Library, an industrial museum and repository for business and technological history.
“Hagley’s offer is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity, but I will greatly miss Wisconsin and the great staff and collections of the society,” Vogt said. “These have been six wonderful years with a very committed and supportive board.”
Hagley’s collection includes imprints, manuscripts, archives and pictorial collections.
As part of paring down state spending to reduce the $1.1 billion state budget deficit, Gov. Scott McCallum has suggested making a 5 percent cut to library system aid, which means a loss of more than $700,000. Cuts to the already under-funded library system will mean cuts in staff, material, hours and programs, say library officials.
Vogt, who was criticized for cuts that fell heavily on personnel and acquisitions for the renowned Historical Society Library, said they were required because of the state’s budget crisis.
But Vogt has also been praised by Historical Society president Patricia Boge for strategic planning for the society’s future, development of fundraising, improvements in outreach services such as public television, website development and improvements to the Wisconsin Magazine of History.
In another example of incidental timing, National Library Week also kicks off Monday. Originally created to promote reading, school Superintendent Elizabeth Burnmaster said she thinks the week serves as an excellent opportunity to think about the important role libraries play in the community.
“Collectively, the libraries of our state are an enormous educational, economic, and quality-of-life resource for our citizens,” Burnmaster said. “Just as a free public education is an integral part of our democratic society, so is free access to information through the public library.”
Due to the state’s $1.1 billion budget deficit, the library system will face drastic cuts in funding that will lead to job losses, reduced hours, reduced materials and cuts in programming.
“This year it is even more important that we support our libraries. Even in good times libraries often have to struggle to obtain adequate funding,” Burnmaster said. “In these difficult economic times, it is imperative to the economic future of our state that the right choices are made.”
The society’s Board of Curators has made no plans yet for a search process to recruit a new director, but it is expected to take the society between six and 12 months to find a replacement. However, during the search, the plan to reduce the state’s budget will be finalized, which could mean additional cuts to the library system’s funds.
