Library Lover Laments Lost Hours
On February 9, the American Fork library reduced its hours of operation. Formerly open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, it is now open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from noon to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Nobody is happy about this, least of all myself. During a recession, the local library becomes more important than ever. It's your first stop if you have to develop new career skills or learn how to bake bread. It's where you go if you have to disconnect your home Internet service. It's your family's cheapest recreation option.
This is not just conjecture on my part. The library's monthly circulation figures for 2008 show increases ranging from 20 to 33 percent over the same months in the two prior years, beginning in July 2008. (Remember last July, when gas prices hit $4.13 per gallon?)
The library is one of the most important services the City offers. It grieves me to see its operations cut during its time of highest demand. But such is the reality of the City budget.
Sales and property tax revenues, which fund the library and the rest of the general fund, are down approximately ten percent this year. Given a general fund of approximatley $15 million, this means the City has had to trim approximately $1.5 million from the budget. Accordingly, all departments have cut 10 to 15 percent from their budgets.
Reducing library hours yields an annual savings of $100,400. Other departments with significant cuts include the engineering department ($124,000), streets ($328,000), building inspection ($65,600), police ($75,900), and capital equipment ($214,200).
While it is true that "an investment in knowledge pays the best interest" (Benjamin Franklin), it is equally true that "if you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher's stone" (Benjamin Franklin).
So I'm supporting the reduced hours -- at least for now -- and rejoicing that we don't have to close the library all together, as is happening elsewhere around the country.
If you love the library as much as I do, please join me in reminding the City Council how much you value those extended hours. If all goes well, we'll see the lost hours restored when the economy rebounds.
Nobody is happy about this, least of all myself. During a recession, the local library becomes more important than ever. It's your first stop if you have to develop new career skills or learn how to bake bread. It's where you go if you have to disconnect your home Internet service. It's your family's cheapest recreation option.
This is not just conjecture on my part. The library's monthly circulation figures for 2008 show increases ranging from 20 to 33 percent over the same months in the two prior years, beginning in July 2008. (Remember last July, when gas prices hit $4.13 per gallon?)
The library is one of the most important services the City offers. It grieves me to see its operations cut during its time of highest demand. But such is the reality of the City budget.
Sales and property tax revenues, which fund the library and the rest of the general fund, are down approximately ten percent this year. Given a general fund of approximatley $15 million, this means the City has had to trim approximately $1.5 million from the budget. Accordingly, all departments have cut 10 to 15 percent from their budgets.
Reducing library hours yields an annual savings of $100,400. Other departments with significant cuts include the engineering department ($124,000), streets ($328,000), building inspection ($65,600), police ($75,900), and capital equipment ($214,200).
While it is true that "an investment in knowledge pays the best interest" (Benjamin Franklin), it is equally true that "if you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher's stone" (Benjamin Franklin).
So I'm supporting the reduced hours -- at least for now -- and rejoicing that we don't have to close the library all together, as is happening elsewhere around the country.
If you love the library as much as I do, please join me in reminding the City Council how much you value those extended hours. If all goes well, we'll see the lost hours restored when the economy rebounds.
posted by Heidi Rodeback at 11:25 AM
2 Comments:
The reduction doesn't upset me as the choice of reduction hours. I'm most likely to use the library on Fridays and Saturdays and those were the hardest hit - I don't understand the reasoning there.
Hmm. Obviously, there's no way to cut that's going to make everybody happy, or anybody happy, for that matter! But library staff do say that Friday and Saturday are usually their slow days, and that this arrangement at least allows them to stay open each day. (An earlier proposal had the library open longer on Saturday, but closed all day Friday.) Additionally, they feel it important to offer as many evening hours as possible Monday through Thursday, because of the many school reports they support on those evenings.
Truly, there's no way to win this one.
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