Libraries have seen more than their share of fiscal cliffhangers recently, and the celebration of National Library Week, April 10–16, offers no respite. But through the power of social networks, a loyal customer base, and elected officials who eventually read the handwriting on the wall, some rays of light permeate the gloom.
The most recent drama threatened to close the doors of 13 of the 17 branches of Cobb County (Ga.) Public Library as of May 1 in order to plug a $31-million mid-year cavern in the county budget. Announced by the county commission April 7, the proposal lasted for five days; on April 12, in the presence of a standing-room-only crowd of more than 300 people, county commissioners voted instead to institute five furlough days and other belt-tightening measures across all county departments, but to spare the library system. The library is not yet out of the woods, what with FY2012 looming ahead, but the assertive patrons who organized, emailed, blogged, and started a Facebook campaign with such lightning speed are striving to stay ahead of the curve next time.
Their determination is reminiscent of the tenacious library love exhibited by the Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Future of the Library Task Force, which was formed in October 2010 to recommend steps to sustain the financially stricken system. To the delight of the library board and patrons (and the consternation of some members of the county commission), the final report urged a hike of at least $2 million for FY2011–2012 in keeping with the funding levels of library systems in 13 peer communities. And, contrary to the opinion of some naysayers, the task force concluded that the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library in its 24-branch heyday several years ago had been neither overbuilt nor overfunded.
Elsewhere, library staffers, patrons, and other supporters haven’t stood idly by either:
- Defying a cost-cutting decision by the board of the Evanston (Ill.) Public Library to close the South branch, the EPL Friends group opened a volunteer-staffed and donation-funded space several blocks away on March 26. Organizers acknowledged that the outpost isn’t an official branch by dubbing it the Mighty Twig—and maintaining their offer to lease the space to the library board for $1 per year.
- On a larger scale, Angelenos affirmed the importance of Los Angeles Public Library in their lives by approving March 8 the $50-million Measure L initiative, despite the reluctance of city officials to place the matter on the ballot. The additional funding will restore six-day-per-week service at 64 branches and, down the road, seven-day-service at the main library and eight regional facilities.
Unfortunately, there are also heartbreaking setbacks: Troy (Mich.) Public Library is scheduled to close May 1 after the defeat of two operating millages and the city council refusal in February to discuss options for funding the library. The nearby Romulus Public Library is slated to close the same day.
A blogger from Troy who is known only as Sharon continues to seek a solution. “Since we all agree that the library should be saved, how about the city coughs up some funding to save the damn library through the end of the year till the people come to their senses and save it?” she wrote April 6.
The millage defeats are particularly painful in light of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget, which proposes slashing state library aid by 40%. “There isn’t much more we can take and be expected to survive,” Michigan Library Association President Christine Berro said.
“As the powers that be hold hearings about closing 13 of Cobb’s 17 libraries; as they speak of budget gaps and all those numbers that have brought them to this abyss, I ask that they keep in mind what a library is,” wrote novelist Margaret Johnson-Hodge in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the day before the county commission backed off the closure plan.
In her plea to bear in mind what a library is lies the crux of the disconnect between library advocates and detractors.
For those who see the library as a brick-and-mortar collection of stuff, such as publishing consultant and e-book enthusiast Mike Shatzkin, the institution seems to be on the brink of running its course. In a blog post titled “It Will Be Hard to Find a Library 15 Years From Now,” Shatzkin postulated that, in a little over a decade, “All of us will have access to, or personal ownership of, many screens. Through those screens, we’ll also have access to a variety of content that is suggested by what the internet can deliver us today.” He goes on to argue that, while people will always need librarians to guide them through the information glut, “When all of us have access to more books on our screens than are in the library, what’s the point to the library?”
On April 11, American Library Association President Roberta Stevens responded with a letter she shared on the discussion of ALA’s governing Council. “It is no surprise that Mr. Shatzkin recognizes that the ‘navigating’ skills of librarians are needed,” Stevens stated. “Digital formats and the means of delivering content will evolve, but the need for libraries and librarians will endure.”
Libraries will endure because, in addition to being a haven for knowledge seekers and idea lovers, they are the only public space that offers, as Johnson-Hodge put it, a “refuge for the overwhelmed mind and respite from a technical age” if that’s what’s being sought, of course. If not, a public-access screen awaits.
That’s why libraries (or media centers, information commons, or what have you) and the library workers who staff them will endure, and why people will always go to the mat to protect, save, and (worst case scenario) reinstate them.
Happy National Library Week!