Town Officials Threaten Cash-Strapped Board for Trimming Library Hours

Makes me glad I moved back to Connecticut.  I used to moan that libraries were so much more revered in the Midwest than in Connecticut, but this is just stupid.  Take away their money, then berate them for how they choose to meet the shortfall - not terribly helpful.  The only way to meet a budget gap is to reduce services, whether it is closing for certain hours or by layoffs - either way is going to hurt the public because either way is a reduction in services offered.  You get what you pay for and if you don’t pay for it, you don’t get it…

Yes, the library’s mission is to provide services to the public, but as my high school economics teacher used to say, "There’s no such thing as a free lunch."  These services cost money and employees, vendors, suppliers, bills, etc must be paid.  Books, internet service providers, online database subscriptions, journal subscriptions, other electronic and digital media, equipment, etc, these costs keep adding up.   Very few of these items are donated.  Do you work for free?  Or perhaps you think the library should begin laying off employees?  Librarians have families to feed, clothe, and house, too.  Do y0u propose a hike in property tax to cover the shortage?  How well do you think the town’s residents will receive that idea?  Library patrons expect newer and better services at the library but at no extra cost to them.  How is the library expected to accomplish this when their budgets get slashed every year?

The city council’s response that no other departments have cut their hours is idiotic.  I have known plenty of city and county government offices that have cut their hours because of budget issues.  Libraries across the world are being forced to shorten hours because of budget shortfalls.

I find the town council’s reaction outrageous.  Not a single one of them is willing to offer an alternative solution to a $300K shortage.  Closing the doors one day out of the week is preferable to adding to unemployment statistics. 

 The second poster above is absolutely correct.

The City Council is determined to cut funding while minimizing the impact on the public. The library trustees care about the long-term effect that would have on the library, especially in regarding getting the funding restored at a future date. The Council conversely is focused on their own likelihood of getting re-elected.

The elected city council just doesn’t want to hear the complaints from their constituents - stop grabbing the funds from libraries, unless you want reduced services.

First they cut funding, then they expect the library to do everything it did before?  This is part of the ongoing misperception by the public that because what they get from the library is free, it shouldn’t cost anything to produce.  That professional library work can be done by volunteers.  No, that doesn’t work.  You get what you pay for.  If you want the library open every day, then the local government will need to pay for that.  Put your money where your mouth is.

As a library director from another state, I read this with great interest.  I wonder whether the Council looked at how the Library Board made its decision, which seems to me to possibly be a very good one.   If a library is open, say, 70 hours a week, how those hours are distributed affects the cost of providing them.  For instance, being open two 12-hour days is generally less costly than being open six 4-hour days because time is needed for opening & closing procedures daily, and there are heating/air conditioning/lighting  costs that are significantly lower on days when the building is not open.   So, closing on Fridays most likely makes the most of the funds that the library is left with.

Also, closing on Fridays results in a schedule that is easy for the public to remember.  A hodgepodge of short days, such as the Council seems to be demanding, results in confusion and people being irritated that they missed the closing time.  Friday is often the day that public libraries see the least use, so the Board’s decision seems like it may have been well considered.

It’s good to see the Council recognizing the importance of libraries, but sad to see them meddling in an area where they have no expertise.  Leave that to the Library Board, please.

This is a problem that goes beyond library board members, village board members, it’s a State of Illinois problem and another song being played by today’s economic shortfalls.  Library supporters are very supporting these days to keep doors open and why shouldn’t they be.  It’s a great place for resources and entertainment especially now that families are cutting back at home.  The resources help the unemployed.  While we need to support our libraries, we also need to support those governing the library, the board of trustees!  We need to help by communicating with them, not just showing up to meetings and creating more hostility.  It would be a crime to close any local library of any size in any community but it is happening.  Does Wheaton library allow volunteers to come in and help in lesser capacities?  This would be a starting place to allow some budgeted money to be used elsewhere, although not the amount the board is looking for, it helps.  Count your pennies, they soon add up! 

This is an example of a library board that thinks its mission is to maintain funding instead of providing service to the public. The board looks for cuts that will cause the public to be hurt and come to the library’s defense, rather than looking at cost reductions that will least impact public service.

So they won’t give the Library the money it is due…and then complain about the decision? Can you say "micromanaging"? I thought you could. As to this comment "But none of our other departments have decided they are not going to work a particular day" I have two things to say: first, other than police and fire, I bet none of the other city departments are open 6 or 7 days a week; and as any mother would say (I have heard many say this), if all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you too?

Ugh!!!!!