Library demands increase; funding is threatened
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By SARAH HINCKLEY Staff Writer - Published: March 1, 2009
When Library Director Hilari Farrington looked last week, she noticed every book in Montpelier's Kellogg-Hubbard Library about resumes and how to search for a job was checked out.
"To me that's really amazing. These are books that get checked out, but I've never seen it at that rate," said Farrington. "It's been really interesting with the economy."
People in the Montpelier area are not the only ones flocking to their local library in these hard times. Around the state, libraries are reporting more activity. At the same time, libraries relying on municipal funding are bracing for possible cuts or flat-funding from what they received in last year's budget.
At this year's Town Meeting, Montpelier residents are voting on a separate article for the library's increased request, nearly $70,000. In Bennington, town officials agreed to flat-fund the two libraries and the fate of the Rutland Free Library will not be known until the city's budget is approved later in the year.
"At a time when the economy is doing so poorly – locally and nationally – the libraries get used more and more," said Lynne Fonteneau-McCann, director of the Bennington Free Library. "We should be getting more money instead of less."
Although Fonteneau-McCann said she understands the fiscal conundrum facing municipal officials, the Bennington Free Library relies heavily on funds from the town. In fact, 71 percent of the library's operating budget is funded by taxpayers. For fiscal year 2009, Bennington town and village approved an allocation of $335,010 toward the library's $467,898 operating budget. While Shaftsbury contributed $12,400 to that total, Woodford gave another $1,200.
As fuel, electricity, technology and other costs are increasing at the library, the flat-funded allocation by the town of Bennington will have a tangible effect.
"There are not a lot of places where we can reduce our operations," said Fonteneau-McCann, who has been running the library for the last five months. "We're looking at reducing our hours."
In the last six months, the southern Vermont library has seen an increase in demand for services across the board. Visits are up 16.5 percent from the number of people who visited the library at this time last year. Since July, 514 new patrons have signed up, and circulation has increased 25 percent. There are four full-time employees, which includes the director, and 17 part-time employees. Some of those are very part-time, Fonteneau-McCann explains.
"Libraries really serve as ongoing education resources in the community," she said. "I have to say towns are struggling. Although we asked for more, we were level-funded. We were grateful to be level-funded, but it's definitely going to have a negative impact on our operations."
In Montpelier, Farrington and her staff believe residents of the region are getting a hardcover library at a paperback price. The Kellogg-Hubbard Library is the second-busiest library in the state, but ranks 28th in per capita tax support, according to Farrington.
Last fall, library officials went before the City Council to show they had stayed true to a promise made a few years ago to only increase their funding request at the rate of inflation. From the city, the library originally requested $393,000 of its $952,000 proposed budget for fiscal year 2010. By implementing a formula meant to disburse taxpayer contributions more evenly among member towns, the council agreed to put $223,360 into the city's budget for approval. Voters are being asked to approve the remaining $70,615 of the library's request in Article 12 on the Town Meeting warning.
If voters did not approve that amount, the library would feel it, according to Dan Pudvah, executive director of the library.
"Absolutely it would hurt, that's a very significant part of our budget," he said, noting that other towns were appreciative their request increase remained within the rate of inflation. "We need to remind people that over the last eight years, circulation has increased exponentially and staff has remained the same."
An average of 850 people walk through the doors of Kellogg-Hubbard Library each day, and there are 15 people on staff. Between 2002 and 2008, the library's circulation increased by 36 percent, Internet use increased by more than 100 percent, and reference questions were up 60 percent, according to Farrington. With the recent addition of wireless Internet at the library, more people are coming in to connect.
"Libraries have really turned into that proverbial community living room," said Paula Baker, director of the Rutland Free Public Library. "Libraries are what really keep a community a community."
For fiscal year 2009, 71 percent, or $699,051, of the Rutland library's budget of $979,376 came from taxes. In the proposed 2010 budget, $715,511, or 68 percent, of the $1,055,866 operating budget is expected to come from taxes. Four other communities put the library's request before voters. In Rutland City, the library's budget request is part of the General Fund budget.
Baker said she is concerned that people who do not frequent the library may not be aware of how much it is used. In addition to greater circulation, more people are using the library's computers to apply for employment.
"A lot of jobs you have to apply online," said Baker. "Even for an entry level job you need an Internet connection."
There are also a lot of other free services provided by libraries such as education series, foreign film series, movie rentals, newspapers and magazines, as well as books on CD or DVDs.
"Our book budget comes from an endowment and, of course, the stock market has damaged that severely," said Baker. "Even though we have money for books, we may not have the money to keep the doors open with out town funding."
Libraries are not immune to the pinch for the public.
"We know this is a hard year for everybody," said Pudvah of Montpelier. "We did see a drop in charitable donations in the fall – that's not unusual. We need to depend even more on charitable donors."
The Montpelier library also has an endowment, of which a portion contributes to operations. It also took a hit last fall with the market crash.
"Our endowment suffered terrifically," said Pudvah. "We lost quite a bit of money."
Vermont is one of eight states in the country that does not provide state funding for public libraries.
"All of the libraries are completely reliant on the voters," said Farrington, sharing the story of 2006, when the library closed for two weeks because of a financial strain.
"We closed the doors, and everyone on staff was laid off," she said. "It was amazing how many books and materials were checked out before we closed … It hit everyone equally. I don't think we can do that again."
Few towns ask public libraries to petition for their request in order to put it on the Town Meeting warning as a separate article.
"There's a huge risk for the library to go on the ballot," said Bennington Town Manager Stuart Hurd, "because if they don't get it, they'd have to shut their doors."
Level-funding the library was not an easy choice for the town.
"Typically, the libraries request more than they get," said Hurd. "This is the first (year) the board voted not to give them any funding increase at all … In tough economic times it was important for the taxpayers not to be overburdened … I think the community feels pretty comfortable right now with the position the Select Board is taking. If we were to eliminate funding, you'd hear about it."
sarah.hinckley@timesargus.com
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