Published Wednesday, January 8, 2003
have libraries
pinching pennies
planned locally
Herald Staff Writer
and The Associated Press
Seattle's libraries were forced to close for two weeks. Denver doubled its late fees. And Sunday book browsing is out in Erie.
Libraries across the country are cutting staff and services because of a budget crunch. Librarians say one of the most disturbing things is that the cutbacks are occurring at a time when an increasing number of people need libraries to help them find jobs.
"As the economic times get worse, library use has gone up," said Maurice J. Freedman, president of the American Library Association. "The injustice of it is, here we are providing more service with the same staff, and we're asked to cut our budgets."
Children's and school librarians are being laid off, weekend hours are being cut and book buying is out of the question.
The problem stems from tight state and local budgets. When cuts need to be made, libraries are hard-pressed to compete against, say, fire and police protection.
Locally, it looks like it's going to be a financially tough year but no immediate cuts in service, staff or hours are planned.
State funding will be frozen in 2003 and some local governments have scaled back their contributions.
Shenango Valley Community Library in Sharon isn't getting as much money as requested from Sharon and Hermitage.
Sharon council cut $13,100 for capital improvements and $7,780 from the $227,780 the library requested. Last year the city gave the library $205,059.
Hermitage contributed $50,000 last year and will give the same amount in 2003.
Library Director Karen Spak said it's too soon to tell what effect the lower funding will have.
"At this time I don't really want to comment on it because we're still compiling our end-of-year figures," she said. "I believe things are going to be tight."
The library is getting help from a $625,000 state grant for capital improvements to repair the parking deck on Sharpsville Avenue and to make the building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
While Tom Ridge was governor, the state increased funding for libraries. Funding is frozen for 2003, Ms. Spak said. The library should receive the same amount of money as it did in 2002 -- $139,393, she said. That money is part of the library's annual budget which is close to $500,000 a year, she added.
In the seven years since she's been with the library, Ms. Spak said, services have actually increased and the hours have remained steady.
"I think we're going to be in a position like most people, most institutions ... We're going to have to watch our pennies. We always do," Ms. Spak said.
"We, of course, here in Greenville have a unique situation because of the Greenville borough and the Act 47 plan which a lot of other communities don't have," said Vicki Cousley, children's librarian at the Greenville Area Public Library.
Act 47 is Pennsylvania program for financially distressed communities. The borough faces a debt of $1.2 million, a hole the borough created by misspent bond money and financial mismanagement. Greenville applied for distressed status last February and became Pennsylvania's 18th distressed municipality.
Greenville is contributing only $8,000 to the library this year instead of $13,000, Mrs. Cousley said. "It's (Greenville's contribution) extremely important because we operate on a very low budget as it is," she said.
The library gets most of its funding from the state, member communities, the Northern Mercer County United Way and the generosity of patrons, she said. Besides Greenville, Hempfield and Sugar Grove townships are member communities, she said.
"We would really like to see other communities in our area be involved," Mrs. Cousley said, adding many patrons are from Reynolds and West Salem Township. Residents of member communities can use the library for free but other library users must pay $25 a year.
Members of the library board met at the end of the year and said they would try to avoid staff or service cutbacks in 2003, Mrs. Cousley said.
"In libraries there's no such thing as enough money, but basically we're doing real well," said Margaret Orchard, librarian at Stey-Nevant Library in Farrell.
Stey-Nevant is different from other Mercer County libraries because it is run by the city of Farrell. About 60 percent of the library's budget is funded by the city, Miss Orchard said. The library also recently received a $38,000 state grant to automate the library and computerize things like the card catalog, she said.
Director Linda Bennett said Grove City Community Library relies heavily on local contributions and pennies must be pinched. She said the library gets donations from organizations like the Friends of the Library and Grove City Area United Way and from individuals.
"It's always tight," she said. "We have to be creative in how we spend our money. We evaluate the biggest needs."
Computers and Internet service are in big demand with library users, Ms. Bennett said.
Right now no cutbacks are planned, she said. "We have such a dedicated staff. They're willing to take what pay they can get to keep the library open," she said. "We're thankful for the local support ... I think the town would really hurt if they didn't have the public library."
"We're always trying to get our support up to where it should be," said Connie Jewell, director of Mercer Area Library, which gets money from Mercer and Findley, East Lackawannock, Coolspring and Jefferson townships.
"We're doing OK but we can't sit aside and let nothing happen," Ms. Jewell said. She said the library is always pursuing grants and having fund-raisers like quilt raffles and ice-cream sales.
Like Stey-Nevant, Mercer Area Library received a $22,000 state grant to automate and the work is nearly complete, Ms. Jewell said.
Erie's main library will close on Sundays beginning this month. Further cuts are expected.
"We're just grinding our teeth over this," library coordinator Mary Rennie said. "Sunday afternoon was a great time for families to come down together."
An American Library Association-sponsored study released this year found that circulation at 18 of the country's largest libraries was up about 8 percent in 2001 over the average of the four previous years.
Freedman, the ALA president, said libraries' funding problems stem from a lack of political clout. At its annual meeting this month in Philadelphia, the ALA will launch a campaign to raise funds and awareness.
"We have to get a message across," Freedman said.