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Libraries for the Future
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Date: Tue, 13 Sep 94 12:39:19 EDT
From: Laura Powers
LIBRARIES FOR THE FUTURE UPDATE=20 SEPTEMBER 12, 1994
CONTENTS OF THIS POSTING:
I. ADVOCACY NEWS =09a. Victory in Los Angeles County =09b. A Solution for L.A. County: The Community Facilities =09 District =09c. Advocacy News from Around the Nation
II. TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
=09a. Big Question: Technology for What? =09b. Paving the Highway for the Public: Libraries and Civic=20 =09 Networking
III. COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
=09a. Friends of the Library Support Crucial to Pass Dedicated =09 Funding (Guest Column by Terry Preston)
=09b. Virginia=D5s Loudoun County Libraries Study Privatization =09 Options
IV. FROM LFF=D5S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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I. ADVOCACY NEWS
a. Victory in Los Angeles County: Advocates Speak Up and Win the Day
The 87 branches of the Los Angeles County Public Library, from affluent Malibu to low-income Baldwin Park, are literacy centers, resources for employers and job-seekers, community recreation sites, and after-school havens for youth. "If our library closes," Compton librarian JoAnn Eldridge told the Today Show in July, "some of these kids will just have to roam the streets."=20
In the 1990s, L.A. County=D5s libraries, like libraries all over California, have been crippled by a shift of local property taxes to the state. Between 1991 and the beginning of 1994, L.A. County's 3.3 million residents lost 10 library branches, 370 staff and over 60 percent of their hours. Most had to deal with branches open only two days a week.=20
And this summer, users faced the prospect of losing over 50 out of 87 branches altogether, leaving only 30 branches to cover an area nearly the size of the entire State of Connecticut.
In July, County Supervisors approved a loan to keep the branches open a few months longer.The Supervisors also gave the County library permission to seek city-by-city support for an innovative financing plan called a Community Facilities District (CFD).Between the end of July and the end of August, librarians and advocates had to convince city councils throughout the county to participate in the CFD, which involved a fee of about $29.50 to be levied on single-family dwellings and a slightly higher fee for businesses.
It wasn't easy. County library staff attended 190 city meetings. Nine community forums were held as a means to inform the publuic about the CFD. The Service Employees International Union (representing library workers) distributed materials to its members and to library patrons, and local friends of libraries groups ignited city-based support. Librarians, friends group members, and Libraries for the Future representatives spoke out everywhere, from local meetings to network TV to newspaper editorial boards to drivetime radio talk shows,trying to convince tax-shy cities to join the CFD.
By August 30, the crucial date of the County Supervisors' vote, areas covering 49 public libraries (and 55 percent of County residents) had agreed to join the District. That day, the Supervisors' chamber was packed with over 700 citizens anxious for the vote. To the end the outcome was unsure. But the Supervisors were convinced as citizen after citzen stepped forward to testify about what would be gained if library doors stayed open. When the 3-2 vote was announced, advocates,many wearing Libraries for the Future "Keep Our Libraries Open!" t-shirts, broke into ecstatic applause. Their effort had paid off!
The push to win firm footing for the library did not come just from librarians. City managers and the Board of Supervisors needed to be confident of a strong voter mandate for library service =D1 and voters came through. When the library's most crucial allies, its users, spoke up, the officials listened.=20
In Los Angeles County and across the country, citizen advocates are proving vital to library survival. Other California cities have organized ballot campaigns to restore library services, most recently San Francisco,Altadena and Oakland. New Yorkers persuaded Mayor Dinkins to add $22 million to the library budget in 1992; in 1993 a coalition of Chicago neighborhood groups led an outspoken campaign that helped restore $52 million in slashed library services across Illinois.=20
Because public libraries get 88 percent of their funding from local government, satisfied users who speak out are a powerful tool. Citizen opinion carries weight. Librarians can shout all they want, says Joanne Eldridge, but in the end, "the support has to come from the community."
The lesson is clear: in a time of tight budgets, those of us who value libraries need to speak up.
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b. A Solution for L.A. County: The Community Facilities District
The Community Facilities District, or CFD, approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on August 30th, is similar tofinancing plans being adopted throughout California as a means of overcoming the restrictions of the Proposition 13 tax cap. Using a formula, each property owner within the CFD boundaries will pay an annual benefit charge earmarked for the library, under the rationale that the library's health and strength benefits property owners.
Though innovative, the CFD is controversial. One local taxpayers group has threatened to sue, claiming the plan is illegal. Adovcates argue that the pla is justified under a 1982 law and that lirary services have direct economic and quality of life benefits in local communities. They also note that the CFD is the library's only hope for survival. "Though the CFD is not an ideal model to use for financing a library district," say library administrators, "it was virtually the only option available to the County Library to begin bringing in ongoing revenues this fiscal year." Whether the County will eventually adopt a different mechanism depends on the outcome of several measures being considered in the state legislature.
Approval of the district plan will enable the County Library to restore 5 or 6 day a week service at 59 branch libraries: 49 in unincorporated areas and cities who joined the CFD, 10 in cities where officials plan to buy library services from the CFD out of local monies without passing the district fee to local residents. Normal book purchasing will also resume at these libraries after a year in which not a single penny could be budgeted for materials.
Library users in 28 communities still face a deterioration of service. But cities will have another chance to join the CFD next year. The approval of the district means that the Library, which serves one of every ten Californians, can continue to give the majority of County residents the information services they need and deserve.
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c. Advocacy News from Around the Nation
Dateline Hartford, Connecticut
A $238,000 cut to the Hartford Public Library, proposed by the city manager in April, was restored by the Hartford City Council in June. The cut could have resulted in the loss of two days per week of service at all of the library's nine branches, but library staff and citizen advocates came to the rescue with letters, calls and appearances at budget hearings, convincing an already sympathetic Council that, in the words of a Hartford Courant=20 editorial, "Libraries are not a frill. " Meanwhile, citizens of the Blue Hills neighborhood in nearby Bloomfield, Connecticut are fighting for their local branch library, which closed when the Town Council cut the $70,000 necessary to sustain it for the year. At press time, the Blue Hills Neighborhood Group had collected hundreds of signatures in support of the branch and was busy preparing for a showdown with the Town Council. Said member Toni Serignese, "This library is our community's only cultural center. We're getting as many people as we can to speak up now before the Town Council." Contacts: John Wilcox, Business Mgr., Hartford Public Library 203-293-6067; Carmine Serignese, Chair, Blue Hills Neighborhood Group, 203-242-4951.
Dateline Lakeville, Massachusetts
In the wake of drastic service cuts that included the closure of the town's library and the decimation of its fire department, friends of the library in semirural Lakeville, MA cast their lot with a group called Lakeville Pride and rallied behind a bid to locally override the statewide property tax cap (Proposition 2 1/2) and secure more money for public services. Thanks to Lakeville Pride's hard work, citizens voted to override the cap; on August 25, the library reopened with hours and services intact. Lakeville advocates' strategy is a good example of how library advocates can cooperate, not compete, with proponents of other public services. Contact: Sandra Horton, Town Clerk, Lakeville, MA 508-347-3400.
Dateline San Francisco, California
After winning 70% voter approval for an city charter amendment decreeing a $14 million increase in the library budget, San Francisco advocates were appalled when the city comptroller announced in early July that because of a miscalculation, the library's gain would be only $10 million. Amid public outcry about the "reinterpretation" of the charter amendment, Mayor Frank Jordan and the Library Commission have transferred money from another source to increase hours at seven of the library's twenty- six branches. Other reinstatements of staff and hours are on hold while the city reviews civil service qualifications for library workers.
Dateline Riverton, Wyoming
Riverton advocates were outraged in March when the Fremont County Library's Board of Trustees voted to eliminate the jobs of the head librarian and children's librarian at their local branch library, leaving them without professional staff and causing the branch to end literacy and volunteer programs. The Board cited fiscal reasons for the move, but advocates disagree. "This is not a fiscal problem, it's a political problem," says J.A. Frank of the Riverton Friends of the Library. "Our county's assessed valuation went up, but our library service went down." Frank and others have voiced their concerns at public meetings of the Library Board and County Commissioners, and have gotten no response, but they have not given up. They are working now to organize diverse groups of in the community to take a pro-library message to county legislators. "We have some momentum now, and we plan to keep up the effort to restore cuts and increase hours," says Frank. Contact: J.A. Frank 307-856-7986.
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II. TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
a. Big Question: Technology For What?
On the American Library Association's Legislative Day on April 22, librarians and citizen advocates converged on Capitol Hill to spur Congressional support for America's original information infrastructure, its library system. Legislators received them warmly and assured them libraries were being protected by Congress. But some library supporters observed a disturbing theme. "They told us not to worry because the new technology bills would take care of libraries," said one attendee. "They seemed to think that laws establishing National Information Infrastructure would solve all of libraries' funding problems."
The idea that advanced technology will have a uniformly positive effect on the public's access to information goes almost unquestioned by policy makers. Vice President Gore's image of a second grader plugging into the Library of Congress from a home computer is so riveting that many rarely stop to think about the child whose family can't afford a computer (or even books). We think even less about the subtle way in which libraries, as particular places in local neighborhoods, support community; or how essential librarians are to helping people find the information they need. Says David Karre, Executive Director of New York's rural Four-County Library System, "Electronic information is a step in a natural progression. We should embrace technology. What worries me is that some legislators think of technology as a replacement rather than a complement."=20
Earlier this year, Congress appropriated hundreds of millions of dollars in research for high-performance computing while cutting libraries by almost $30 million. This is a reminder of the hard work advocates need to do to put libraries where they should be: in the center of the national conversation about information access. And in that conversation, we must always ask the question, "Technology for what?"=20
* If we spend public money to develop technology, will the public benefit Should we spend public dollars on a pay-per-view entertainment system while public libraries struggle?* If there is public access to the NII, will it be limited to commercial entertainment? Will there be a chance to access a diverse range of informational and cultural offerings like those in the library (e.g. information from non-profit organizations, alternative journalism, indpendent film)?
Nancy Roderer, President of the Library and Information Technology Association, is concerned that technology be applied for clear purposes, not for it's own sake. "One strength that librarians bring to the NII is an in-depth understanding of what information- seekers need," she says, adding that library-based electronic networking projects are most successful when they partner aggressively with non-profit groups or government agencies.
A bill introduced this year by Senator Daniel Inouye, S. 2195, addressed many of these concerns by calling for the reservation of public lanes" on the Information Superhighway. S. 2195 would have reserved 20% of the capacity of future telecommunications networks for non-commercial traffic, creating space for organizations that would otherwise be financially unable to distribute information or provide their publics with access to technology. S. 2195 also directed the FCC to create a fund to support the work of libraries and other non-profit network users. Advocates hoped that S. 2195's provisions would be integrated into a comprehensive bill on communications industry reform, Senator Ernest Hollings' S. 1822.
But public interest provisions were virtually sidelined last summer as the telecommunications debate focused on the divergent interests of industry players: telephone, cable, and entertainment companies eager to claim a lion's share of the "information marketplace." By the time S.1822 was marked up in committee, the provision to reserve 20% capacity had been reduced to "up to 5%;" the special fund that would have enabled libraries to make use of reserved capacity was nowhere to be found. As S. 1822 approaches the Senate floor for a vote, there are rumors that Senators sympathetic to the communications industry may attempt to strike even a modest reservation of public capacity from the bill. While industries are fighting each other about the terms of their deregulation, they seem unanimous in their opposition to allowing institutions driven not by profit but by social goals to maintain a "public lane" on the information superhighway.=20
Before the superhighway passes libraries by, library advocates need to get organized. In providing free community-based information access, libraries have a lot in common with community television and radio, with civic networks and freenets, with independent film and video. Advocacy will be stronger if it includes not just libraries but a whole spectrum of community media activism. Says San Francisco librarian Melissa Riley, "We need to find the other people in our regions who are interested in a public interest agenda for communications -- even if it means crossing institutional boundaries." Riley believes the "coffee klatsch" approach that gave birth to diverse coalitions in Chicago and New York should be emulated in other places.
Working with other advocates of what might broadly be termed "community information infrastructure," library advocates have a chance to question the rhetoric about technology. We deserve a substantive discussion about providing information people want and need, and substantive action to establish spaces for non- commerical communications and expression in our culture.
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b. Paving the Highway for the Public: Libraries and Civic Networking
Civic networking - the use of telecommunications to provide local public information, support community development and facilitate social change - is on the rise. And though many civic networks make use of the Internet (a public computer network that connects millions of users worldwide and houses thousands of documents and databases), it is not just a movement of computer users. Also involved are independent media makers, community televisions and radio stations, non-profit organzations, and public libraries.
These public libraries are leading the way into the information age:
*Community activists in Bridgeport, Connecticut hope to make their public library into the information hub of their area.=20 According to Katrina Scott George, a local leader, activists have been planning to form a community network that includes public information providers such as government agencies and local community interest organizations. They are seeking approval from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to receive an Empowerment Zone grant. With funding, Bridgeport's main library would be connected to all of these agencies and serve as a focal point for access to information about local issues and sustainable development. =20
*The Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana and the local Public Access Cable (PAC) station have a relationship that enhances the work of each partner. The PAC station is housed and managed at the Public Library. The PAC staff and volunteers have easy access to information resources and draw library users into developing programs for television that focus on community interests and issues.
*The San Francisco Public Library has developed public on-line databases with the involvement of numerous community organizations. Patrons can look at images from the African American Historical Society's books, journals, and artifacts on-line; get access to social service referrals compiled by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation; or browse through a comprehensive directory of local neighborhood associations and their resources. Future plans include a collaboration with KQED, the local public television station, and other agencies to develop an extensive community freenet.
The libraries described here have successfully added civic networking to their wide-ranging menu of services. Access to the Internet is an expense libraries often manage to fit into their budgets or afford through public/private partnerships. Funds for public access television on the other hand come from a federally mandated contribution that cable companies make towards non- commercial programming. =20
But civic networking is still uncommon in public libraries. Some advocates have realized that if a public telecommunicatons infrastruc ture is to grow, libraries must convince national state and local legislators to not only acknowledge the importance of public technology and information access, but support it with policies and funding.
Library groups in the New York City area have become part of Access for All, an ad hoc coalition of community media providers working collectively towards public interest telecommunications and information policy. This summer, Access for All sponsored a policy seminar on the future of the community media and=20 campaigned for S. 2195, the so-called "Public Rights-of-Way" bill=20 introduced by Senator Daniel Inouye. The group is also monitoring state and local telecommunications policy. The Chicago Coalition for Information Access is another group that has brought libraries together with other non-profit media providers to plan for local information infrastructure.
Libraries for the Future is compiling a guide for library advocates who are interested in: 1) working to include public interest provisions in national and state telecommunications policy 2) involving their libraries in using civic networking to solve community problems. We believe that library advocates have an inherent stake in the nation's rapidly evolving telecommunications policy.
Contact these places for further information about the above projects:
Bridgeport Public Library, Bridgeport, CT- (203) 576-7403, =09=09=09 Katrina Scott George (203) 938-0611 wgksg@aol.com Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne , IN - (219) 424-7241 San Francisco Public Library - (415) 557-4400 Chicago Coalition for Information Access (CCIA) c/o Networking for Democracy - (312) 384-8827 cdavidson@igc.org Access for All c/o Media Alliance - (212) 560-2919
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III. COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
a. Guest Column: Friends of the Library Support Crucial to Pass Dedicated Funding
by Terry Preston, President, Friends of the Oakland, California Public Library
San Francisco Bay Area citizens had three library funding measures presented to them during the June 7 election. Two of them were for a special property tax to fund local libraries, which required a two-thirds vote to pass. All three won by big margins. Strong Friends of the Library support was crucial to these successful campaigns.
Citizens responded to other citizens making the case for new taxes. The public will listen to people it knows have fought to keep libraries open during the years, before they'll listen to politicians. If voters see a proposed dedicated library funding measure as another politician's trick to raid their pocketbooks the measure is dead to start with.=20
Most, if not all, states will require that a non-Friends political campaign committee be set up, though the Friends president could be campaign chairperson. Here are other things a Friends of the Library group can do on a campaign, drawing in part on our successful experience in Oakland, California.
* Obtain the full support of the governing board. Many groups started out solely to raise private funds through book sales and other programs, and some board members may not like the idea of being involved with a political campaign. But raising money for new books won't mean much if branches are being closed. Supporting dedicated library funding is really just another form of fundraising.* Put up money for the campaign, especially at the beginning to get the ball rolling. Oakland's Friends donation set up the bulk mail account and paid for printing to support a larger solicitation that eventually raised almost half of our campaign's treasury. (The I.R.S. generally restricts campaign donations to a percentage of your budget, but giving money alone should not compromise your =A4501(c) (3) status. Early financial support is crucial.)* Provide mailing lists to the campaign. Your members are the people most likely to give to the fund-raising drive and volunteer their time.* See if active library card users can be contacted for fund-raising and volunteers. Library policies on providing this information vary, but it's a great place to find support.
*Actively look for in-kind donations. Oakland's campaign received over 25,000 sheets of paper and almost as many envelopes for our fund-raising mailing.
* Booksellers are natural allies. Oakland's Barnes & Noble store held a special day for the library campaign, dedicating a portion of the day's proceeds to the campaign; the day raised $5,600.* Newspapers, TV, and radio are natural allies. Contact them early in the campaign and enlist their support. They can provide invaluable free support and publicity. Oakland columnists wrote favorable articles, published our letters, and made sure campaign news got top billing.* The campaign chairperson should refer to himself or herself as President of the Friends of the Library, if it's so, as well as chairperson while writing articles or speaking on the campaign trail. I signed our general fund-raising letter "President . . ." then "Chairman . . ." and signed every letter and editorial "President . . ." The chairperson needs to do this to constantly re-affirm that the measure is a community-based, Friends of the Library-backed campaign.
Winning a library funding campaign is possible. It takes strong Friends of the Library support. Libraries need much more than book sales these days. They need solid support that politicians can't take away. It's library advocates' job to give it to them.
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b. Virginia's Loudoun County Libraries Study Privatization Options
Loudoun County's library, near Washington, DC, circulates over 1 million books a year to 100 thousand people, maintains multi-media resources and programs for the area's arts, business, college, and disabled communities, and provides core services to the general public. Recently the library board has established a three-person Committee on Efficiency (initially called the Committee on Privatization) to discuss whether and to what extent the six local libraries should be "privatized." New members of the library's board think the system would be better managed if it incorporated more private sector market goals and procedures, although what this change in direction would mean in practice is still unclear.=20 =09 The discussion in Loudoun County has included an array of issues: defining the mission of a library; improving administrative efficiency; stabilizing cost; charging for some or all library services; including the public in library plans; and ensuring that a full range of books and materials are available, even on controversial issues. This debate mirrors similar discussions that have taken place in professional library journals and elsewhere on the advantages and the dangers of bringing private enterprise principles (or even private companies) into the public sector to perform tasks traditionally handled by public employees at no direct charge to those using the library.
In Loudoun, budget considerations are cited for the Committee on Efficiency's work, yet that rationale is questioned by others. In the last two years, Loudoun County's library budget was cut 15 percent and staff reduced by 28 percent, but Linda Holtslander, Loudoun's Library Systemwide Services Manager, reports that the libraries are not experiencing a deficit this year. Dennis Pierce, chair of the Committee on Efficiency, worries that dwindling real estate taxes may necessitate future cuts. Some 80 percent of the budget is devoted to staff, so future budget cuts would be difficult to carry out without affecting staffing numbers or special services.=20
There has been worried speculation by Loudoun citizens that user fees may be imposed for borrowing books, that outreach programs and special services will be cut, and that professional librarians will lose their jobs, according to reports in the Washington Post and Loudoun Times-Mirror. "The library's basic mission is to provide information to all citizens in as many formats as possible, at no costs except through their taxes. We have a wonderful library system, and I hope we don't keep chipping away at it," says Linda Conti-White, Loudoun Library Board chair.=20 Pierce emphasizes that the Committee on Efficiency has formulated no specific plans and is "considering outsourcing certain functions like printing, photocopying, and telephone operations. We're looking to lighten the administrative load, and to maintain a good book selection and the hours of operation." Conti-White's views and the contrasting ones of Pierce indicate that this debate is not a simple one. Some people feel that "privatization" is only a matter of paying non-government employees to perform relatively routine tasks formerly carried out by civil servants. Others see privatization as an opening wedge toward charging members of the public individually for services that were once free to any patron willing to spend his or her time at the library. Finally, some wonder whether all library services will be contracted out to companies to run for a fee. All three ideas =D1 although quite different in theory and practice =D1 are frequently bundled into the one term "privatization."
Of course even today, libraries are not "free." Americans spend about $19 per year per person for the array of services they currently enjoy. But with only minor exceptions, most American public libraries do not charge for their services, and taxpayers who never use the library still pay for its operation. Some commentators note that charging for some or all of the library's services would help ration the services to those who truly valued them, prevent overuse of the services by a few patrons, and even bring the logic of the market into a public enterprise. In light of the shrinking pool of public dollars, there are "advantages to bringing in the influence of the market, which has a discipline you might not have in bureaucracy," says Loudoun County's Dennis Pierce. He adds, "Dick Armey of Texas said that the market is always right and the government is always wrong--and I think that's true."
Contracting Out Services: Libraries around the country already contract out many tasks that do not involve the library's principal mission; these include janitorial and security services, according to Arthur Curley, current president of the American=20 Library Association and an LFF board member. He notes that there's a difference between these support services and the essential services of a library. Loudoun County already "outsources" security and groundskeeping. But citizens have been calling Holtslander and Conti-White to let them know that they disapprove of placing essential services in the hands of a private contractor.
"We can sell the libraries, but I don't see that as likely. The public still wants control of them," says Pierce. "Another option is franchising, in which an independent management company takes over operations with or without public supervision. A third is outsourcing, in which certain functions would be done outside the library, including cataloging and janitorial service. This seems our principal option," he says.
=09Many libraries pay for others to perform services that were traditionally the province of the local librarian. The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) is a cooperative non-profit enterprise in Ohio that supplies cataloging services to its members. In addition, libraries can obtain cataloging from the Library of Congress. The savings can be enormous. Arnold Hirshon, a librarian at Wright State University, notes that his library saved as much as 70 percent of its costs by purchasing cataloging services, thus permitting purchase of more library materials and user workstations. Colleen Hyslop, Assistant Director of systems at the Michigan State University Libraries, agrees, saying, "I view outsourcing not as a threat but as a valuable service which enhances our internal operations."
There is relatively little controversy surrounding such activities (although some professional catalogers dislike the loss of quality control that can occur when materials are cataloged by others). But what makes sense in clear cases =D1 that it doesn't take a civil servant to cut the library lawn =D1 may not be as straightforward when, for example, a children's reading program is outsourced.
Charging Fees for Library Services: Nancy A. Van House, writing in Public Library User Fees (Greenwood Press, 1983), notes that "charges for publicly subsidized goods and services are not unusual, accounting for anywhere from 15 to 47 percent of state and 29 to 35 percent of local government income, depending on exactly which revenues are included. Some common beneficiary charges include bus fares, bridge tolls and charges for park and museum admissions, hospital treatment, parking and public utilities." She concludes that while fees should not be charged for currently free services like book borrowing, innovative or labor-intensive services can be charged for: "Without fees, the library is limited by its budget and limited to offering only those services for which the library can pick up the entire bill."
"I think librarians don't want to charge but are coming to see that it may be practical," says Jean Barry Molv, Deputy director of the Baltimore county Public Library. She notes that libraries routinely charge for use of film and audiovisual equipment, photocopying, use of meeting rooms and sometimes interlibrary loans; indeed, some libraries (the Charlotte, NC Public Library, for example) have small collections of best sellers that may be rented by patrons unwilling to wait for a copy to become available form the general collection. The Minneapolis Public Library has had research charges for years, with its goal to recover the salaries and benefits of staffers who conduct the fee-based service.
"What the public is willing to pay for is what the public will get from the library, whether through taxes or fees," says Molv. "our mission is to provide access to information within the financial constraints of our operation. We don't charge for what everyone agrees should be in the library, namely books, but we do charge for videos and interactive CDs, about which there's not unanimous consensus." Molv says the library has not answer yet as to how to serve those who can't afford to pay the fees.
Private Management of Public Libraries: Almost a decade ago in a Library Journal article predicting the future of library services, Los Angeles County librarian Linda Crismond defended private management."The distinction is being made between government setting policy=D1 including minimum level of service =D1 and actually providing services. In effect governments are telling constituents is now unable to be everything to everybody - that the responsibility of government is to see that services are made available, but not necessarily to provide them." She noted that libraries on military bases were increasingly managed by private contractors with a customer-centered philosophy. "A private firm pleases its customers or loses them to competition," she noted.
Yet examples are difficult to find. The Welwood Murray Palm Springs Library in California is frequently cites. But it may illustrate not privatization but rather the volunteer spirit of Americans stepping in when public funding fails. In 1992 the library closed and a citizens group took it over. Its collection has from 5,000 books to 8,000 books. No professional librarians work there; instead, local volunteers handle the work. The annual budget is about $4,000.
Who manages public libraries? Who funds them? What charges are appropriate for a public institution to levy on its patrons? These are questions at the heart of what it means to have a public library. They help define the nature of public participation and support. "Public libraries are a public responsibility, and they are pretty much an American invention--before, libraries were for the elite. The public should tell politicians that these are their libraries and they should be publicly funded," says Schuman.
"Public libraries are a public good and that the public good is rooted in the public's input in how libraries develop. A privatized library's bottom-line concern is =D4Can we do this in a cost-effective way?,' but some public library functions are of necessity staff-intensive and are not cost-effective. And the public should be on the warpath in response to the threat of extensive privatization," says Gloria Coles, Director, Flint Public Library, and LFF Board Member.
LFF's Executive Director, Grant Thompson, places the organization squarely among those who support public funding of public libraries. "Libraries perform public functions: they inform citizens on current affairs, they help entrepreneurs build the economy, they educate our children, and they build community," says Thompson. "Private enterprise and charitable giving have their place in supplementing library budgets, but the heart of the library--a place where information is available to all comers without regard to ability to pay or social action--must be publicly-supported." =09 =09 [LFF would like to follow all three parts of the library privatization issue around the country. We welcome information from readers on their experience with outsourcing, fees, or private management as well as their views on what levels of privatization are acceptable or desirable.]
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IV. FROM LFF'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Los Angeles County Library's story, told elsewhere in this issue of LFF Update, is frightening. How could a state like California, whose economic future depends on riding the Information Age, let this happen? And if itcan happen in California, where next?
When news of the devastating cuts reached us, we knew that LFF had to be a part of this fight. Coordinating with our local partner in Los Angeles, PEN Center USA West, the international association of writers, LFF decided to bring the glare of publicity to the County Supervisors' budget process. Working with the County Librarian, we began placing LFF spokespersons on radio talk shows, in opinion columns, and on nationaltelevision. In short order, we had helped coordinate an Op-Ed piece in the Los Angeles Times, an appearance by Sidney Sheldon, the well-known writer, and Joanne Eldridge, a branch librarian, on NBC's Today Show, an article in the LA Reader (an arts and entertainment weekly newspaper), an airing on a "drive time" radio call-in show, an appearance on public radio's Marketplace program, an editorial board meeting with the LA Times, and an LA Times editorial supporting library funding.We helped library supporters from around the country rally around Los Angeles County's crisis, to write letters to County Supervisors and local officials. On August 30th, we supplied advocates with "Keep Our Libraries Open" tshirts to wear to the crucial Board of Supervisors' hearing =D1 the hearing that ended up being a victory celebration for the County's library users.=20
=09What LFF and its partners did in Los Angeles County demonstrates that advocates can make a difference and that news media do find library stories worth carrying. No one enjoys the Emergency Room/Code Blue atmosphere that the funding disaster in LA created; we hope it never happens anywhere in America again.=20
"Los Angeles County should be seen as a kind of litmus test for library advocates across the country. If people could speak out and win a strong library here, they ought to be able to do it anywhere," said Sherrill Britton, Executive Director of PEN Center West.
Library Advocacy is central to LFF. Thanks for being part of LFF's Library Advocates Network.
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Libraries for the Future is a national non-profit organization representing and supporting the nation's over 166 million public libraryusers. We support grassroots advocacy for public libraries across the country; we create and sponsor projects that demonstrate libraries' many community-building functions; and we are working to ensure that public libraries play an integral role in the National Information Infrastructure (NII). For an information packet via U.S. mail, call 800-701-7887.
Board of Trustees:
Harriet Barlow (Chair) =D1 Director, Blue Mountain Center Judith Foust (Vice-Chair) =D1 Deputy Director, Brooklyn Public =09=09=09=09= =09=20 =09=09=09=09=09Library Richard C. Wade (Secretary) =D1 City University of New York Graduate =09=09=09=09=09 Center Thomas Buckman (Treasurer)=D1 Retired President, Foundation Center Dr. Roscoe Brown =D1 Director, Center for Urban Education Policy Gloria Coles =D0 Director, Flint Public Library Arthur Curley =D1 Director, Boston Public Library, President, =09=09=09=09= =20 =09=09=09American Library Association Dr. Hardy Franklin =D1 Director, District of Columbia Public Library =09=09=09=09Immed. Past President, American Library Assn. Dr. Judith Ginsberg =D1 Executive Director, The Covenant Foundation Dr. Dona Hamilton =D1 Lehman College, City University of New York Richard McGahey =D1 Executive Director, Joint Economic Committee, =09=09=09= =20 =09=09=09 U.S. Congress Jill Medvedow =D1 Independent Arts Consultant Mark Ritchie =D1 Executive Director, Institute for Agriculture and=20 =09=09 Trade Policy Deborah E. Tuck =D1 Executive Director, Ruth Mott Fund
Staff:
Grant P. Thompson - Executive Director Laura Powers =D1 Field Director Daniel Garrett =D1 Administrator Elizabeth Chien =D1 Intern (Pomona College) Diantha Schull =D1 Senior Consultant ```
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