It’s not your grandmother’s public library — yet. But with decreasing state and county revenues that fund our local library systems, budget cuts resulting in fewer hours, fewer community branches, fewer books and an absence of the online resources we have come to expect will reduce today’s technology-rich public library to that of our grandmothers’ time.
The DeKalb County Public Library now finds itself in this crisis. Recent openings of renovated branches have sent a mixed signal. But many may not understand that these were funded through a bond referendum passed by DeKalb voters several years ago and designated only for the purpose of “brick and mortar” buildings.
It’s been said that if the library were a private business, people would be investing in it. Circulation is up, visits are up, and computer/database usage is up. Look at the numbers from FY 2010 for DeKalb, which serves a population of 740,000 potential patrons: 3.3 million visits; 4.1 million items circulated; 1.2 million hits to library eBranch; 795,593 in-house computer sessions; 261,440 Wi-Fi sessions; 51,542 children in attendance at 2,254 literacy-based programs; 47,279 adults in attendance at 1,876 programs; an overall customer service rating of 4.65 out of 5.
A dollar value was assessed for the above list totaling $49,135,285. DeKalb spent $12,256,073 on libraries in 2010. That is a return on investment of $4 for every $1 spent.
Have you noticed fewer books on the “new books” shelf at your local branch? Has your wait to receive an item you placed on hold increased to months instead of days? The severe economic situation and proposed budget cuts are preventing the DeKalb system from providing services to meet our community’s needs. Look at these facts:
● The 2011 DeKalb County budget for books and materials is $300,000, an 85 percent decrease from the budget of over $2 million in 2008. With this budget, the DeKalb library can maintain just the database subscriptions, which give patrons 24/7 access to needed information, or purchase one new book for every 50 residents.
● The budget includes a $3 million cut that will result in the loss of 60 full-time staff positions when the library is ready to open two renovated branches. These are in addition to the 2010 closing of the Briarcliff branch, and the fact that the new Stonecrest branch has been ready to open with no date yet scheduled.
● The $3 million cut in staff funding will result in the reduction of service hours, indefinitely delay the opening of the Stonecrest branch and the two newly renovated branches.
As library funding through state and county revenue diminishes with no end in sight, the library must become a true publicly supported library to remain a vital tool in building communities and equalizing access to information. The original purpose of the DeKalb Library Foundation was to support literacy programs above and beyond the day-to-day operation of the library. Now we must turn our efforts to maintaining the high quality of library service our community expects and deserves.
Invest in your library today.
Patricia W. Pickard is president of the board of directors for the DeKalb Library Foundation.
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