Books, buildings and bodies

In a May 2008 interview, Jeff Krull, Director of the Allen County Public Library described short-term strategies for addressing the funding crisis. Jeff boiled financial management of the large system he manages down to books, buildings and bodies.

Following years of level-funding or budget reductions, saving money for public libraries means cutting collections, deferring building maintenance or reducing staff. In West Boylston, we’ve done all three for the past few years and I’m wondering how long it will take for the water to run out of our leaky bucket.

If my town is representative of middle or lower-middle class communities, local funding is tapped out. At the federal level, nearly $800 billion is being pushed to states, perhaps with more speed than consideration. USA Today reports states with the highest unemployment rates have received comparatively few of the stimulus contracts. The New York Times reports formulas for distributing education funds seem to take little account of who needs the money most. In fact, its coverage quotes the school superintendent of a wealthy district who describes the money that has “dropped in” as a “distraction”.

It would be good to have strong library advocates to help sort these issues out. I’ve been watching for signs of life from leading library associations and was encouraged by the ALA’s observation this month that the funding crisis is newsworthy.  With some luck, their Office for Library Advocacy or Office for Government Relations might eventually take up the matter.

In the meantime, with public library directors across the nation absorbed by “hunkering down”, we need people who can look up and out. If ossified library associations can’t do it, who can?