The Miami-Dade County commission voted eight-to-four to approve a $54 million budget for the county's public libraries Thursday night.
Terry Murphy, board member with Friends of the Library, says it was an 81-percent increase from what Mayor Carlos Gimenez first proposed in July.
"This is a real symbolic victory that says when the community speaks out and says what the priorities are, the county commission listens," he said. "This was a tremendous victory for the people of Dade County tonight."
Ricci Yuhico is a librarian at Miami Main Library in downtown. She's excited about the increased budget, but says there's still work to be done.
"We wanted a lot more -- at least $10 million more to undo the cuts that occurred from 2011," said Yuhico. "But it's a great start and a step in the right direction."
