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May 26, 2009

Some book learning

Sunday, May 24, 2009
Last updated: Sunday May 24, 2009, 10:50 AM
NorthJersey.com

FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES began life in this country as auxiliaries to public schools and as outgrowths of social libraries. This was the 1800s. Free access to books was seen as integral to a good public education, and democratically minded townspeople of different states thought not all libraries should require a fee to belong.

The result is that public libraries have become a powerful and important part of American society. New Jersey alone has 245 municipal and joint libraries. The United States has more than 9,000. They serve as meeting places, hangouts, book clubs, literacy training sites, free Internet cafes and job centers. All in addition to their role as community providers of reading material.

Property taxes fund libraries. And, as institutions devoted solely to helping the reading and Web-using public, they should be paid for by the people.

Last year the Legislature passed a law allowing municipal library boards to funnel some of their excess funds to municipalities. As Staff Writers Merry Firschein and Denisa Superville wrote on Saturday, the money can be used to reduce property taxes — as in Mahwah — or pay municipal employees — as in Clifton.

"Any time a particular entity in town that gets money from taxpayers finds a way to return the money to taxpayers they should do that," Mahwah Mayor Richard Martel told The Record.

We would argue that libraries do return the money to taxpayers in so many ways, if not directly in cash, and that taking money away from them should be done only when absolutely necessary. As Patricia Tumulty, executive director of the New Jersey Library Association, points out, public libraries have to keep pace with computer technology, as well as pay for necessities like new carpeting and portable furniture to accommodate the evolving and increased use of the buildings. These are costly expenses, and are paid for by reserves.

Fortunately the law has checks built in, including a funding formula and a requirement that the state librarian approve the fund transfer. This should prevent library coffers from being routinely raided, which is of course an understandable temptation when towns are struggling to stay afloat.

But just as towns are struggling, so are the residents. And they are turning to libraries. Circulation is up, computer use has skyrocketed, and hours are being extended. Librarians have been trained how to fill out unemployment forms, Tumulty said, because so many people who lost their jobs were asking for help.

In a way, libraries are a refuge from the bruising fracas that is daily life. They are retreats with resources that enable patrons to gird themselves with knowledge and then head back out into the fray.

It is with dismay that we learned about a bill introduced in both the Assembly and state Senate to cut municipal funding for libraries from one-third to one-sixth of a mil of assessed property value. One third of a mil is 33.3 cents of every $1,000 of assessed value.

Tumulty says the bill would be "absolutely devastating" if it becomes law.

What can be cut from a library? Not much. Books, computers, hours or staff.

A writer in the 1800s called free public libraries "the people’s colleges." To halve their funding is to take away education from the people.

Posted by tumulty at 5:42 PM | Comments (0)
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Towns fill budget gaps with surplus library funds

Friday, May 22, 2009
BY MERRY FIRSCHEIN AND DENISA SUPERVILLE
NorthJersey.com
STAFF WRITERS
Towns scrambling to plug budget holes are dipping into a new well: their libraries’ surplus funds.

Under a state law passed a year ago, they are asking municipal libraries to sign over part of their surpluses to ease the property tax burden at a time when library use is burgeoning.

“The funding we give our library is more than adequate to run the library, and there is funding left over to return to the town,” Mahwah Mayor Richard Martel said. “Any time a particular entity in town that gets money from taxpayers finds a way to return the money to taxpayers, they should do that.”

But some libraries are reluctant to give up their hard-won savings, saying they need that money for new programs and unexpected expenses, especially as the recession creates greater demand for their services.

Some municipalities even have asked libraries to pay the salaries of municipal employees who have little or nothing to do with the libraries.

The Clifton Public Library pays $73,626 of its $329,758 reserve to cover the salaries of the Clifton Cultural Arts Center director and of the Hamilton House Museum curator, library Director Christine Zembicki said. Those employees were paid by the city until February.

Library funding is based on property taxes. Municipalities are required by law to allocate a base amount in tax revenues, or “one-third of a mil” of the equalized valuation, to their libraries. One-third of a mil amounts to 33 cents for every $1,000 of assessed valuation. Most libraries are funded at or a shade above that level, library officials said.

If real estate prices continue to fall, municipalities will have less money to appropriate to libraries, and the libraries will have to depend more on their surpluses to make up for shortfalls in their operating budgets, said George Heller, Park Ridge Library Board of Trustees president.

At the same time, library use is rising steadily.

Paramus Public Library Director Len LoPinto said use is up about 12 percent a month since the recession took hold in October.

The library circulated 480,000 items in 2007 and 539,000 in 2008, almost 73 percent more than the number of items circulated in 2001, he said. The library now has 37 computers for public use, up from six in 2001, and programs for adults are “jammed,” he said.

The library has also added summer weekend hours, and quadrupled the number of story programs for preschoolers from two to eight a week, he said.

The Clifton Public Library’s circulation increased almost 11 percent in one year, to 352,000 in 2008 from 317,500 in 2007, Zembicki said.

The Mahwah Public Library will return $200,000 to municipal coffers, the same amount it returned in 2008, said Martel, a member of a League of Municipalities legislative committee that successfully lobbied for the 2008 legislation enabling givebacks. The library received $2.3 million from the township budget this year, he said.

Martel said that he is a “strong advocate for our library,” and that his support for the giveback law is not an attack on it. The law will help municipalities hold down taxes, he said.

But the Mahwah Library Board of Trustees was “surprised” this year when it was asked to give money back, board President Curtis Kantor said.

The 2008 resolution authorizing the transfer said it was one time only, he said.

In addition, the library hopes to finish construction of new rooms in its basement year, and officials said they don’t yet know the final cost.

“We were reluctant at first to entertain the $200,000 this year, because we don’t know what the cost of the project will be,” Kantor said. “We may not have enough” to give money back after paying for the construction, he said.

Other libraries, such as Park Ridge, have refused to give money back.

The Park Ridge Borough Council wanted some of its estimated $500,000 in reserves, but trustees declined to make the transfer, Heller said. Library officials were worried about their own budget, he said.

“This year, in our budget [we are] taking a small amount of money from our balances to fund operation,” Heller said. “We think that might increase in the future, particularly now that real estate values are decreasing.”

For the first time this year, the library is using a portion if its reserves to cover regular operating expenses, Heller said.

Patricia Tumulty, executive director of the New Jersey Library Association, said that when the giveback legislation was passed, she thought only a few libraries, particularly those in the Shore communities — with high property values and small populations — would be affected.

But “what we are finding is that some town [libraries] have been very judicious in saving for long-term needs,” she said. “They do have some reserves now, and they are being asked to give back the money.”

The requests are coming at a difficult time for libraries, Tumulty said.

“Obviously, the economic downturn has affected many communities, but the other part of the economic downturn is that libraries are now busier than ever,” she said.

Montvale Public Library trustees had planned to transfer $38,000 of its $118,543 reserves to the municipality, library Director Susan Ruttenber CQ said. But the board signed the check before realizing the law spells out a process for givebacks, including approval by Trenton. It has not decided whether it will still return the money, now that it knows it may not meet all the requirements.

Ruttenber and some board members said they did not feel pressured into returning the money and that library programs and services would not be affected.

Robert White, executive director of the Bergen County Cooperative Library System, a consortium of 75 libraries in Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties, said he did not support the law when first proposed, but with the involvement of the state library association, it is now “acceptable.”

Nevertheless, he said libraries should not be asked to return part of their reserves, because they are minimally funded by municipalities.

Municipalities “hate to hand the money to the library, it’s pure and simple,” White said.

Wayne Public Library doesn’t have enough surplus to transfer for tax relief, Treadway said. The library is spending money on extra services, such as extended hours and databases for patrons, including Tutor.com, a $13,000-a-year subscription online database for students in fourth through 12th grades, Treadway said. The library’s reserves include about $30,000 in state aid that Treadway carries over from year to year to cover bills and unexpected expenses, she said.

The Paramus library’s reserve is $100,000 short of the level at which it could be asked to return money, LoPinto said.

But “even if we had it, we wouldn’t give it back, because people need services,” he said.

“The bottom line is that the library is being used more than ever before,” LoPinto said.

E-mail: firschein@northjersey.com and superville@northjersey.com
HOW THE LAW WORKS
A state law approved in April 2008, allows for the state librarian to approve transfer of library funds if:

- The library’s reserve is equal to its budget for the previous year, plus an additional 25 percent, excluding money earmarked for capital expenses.

- The town gives the library money from its municipal budget, as required by state law.

- The library has money in its budget for operating expenses for the remainder of the year.

- The library board of trustees has a written plan for at least three years, showing the long-term funding needs of the library.

Source: New Jersey Revised Statutes: 40:54-15

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Affected libraries

Libraries that have returned money to the municipalities:

- Atlantic City: $1,061,950

- Avalon: $350,000

- Mahwah: $200,000

- Northfield: $55,000

- Ocean City: $320, 367

Source: New Jersey State Library

Posted by tumulty at 5:35 PM | Comments (0)
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Massive Library Cutbacks Considered

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Granted, it's not exactly Fahrenheit 451. But after Montclair Town Manager Joe Hartnett identified a potential $1.6 million savings to the town if the library was funded at the state-mandated minimum, Cliff Kulwin, the president of the library's board of trustees, couldn't stay silent. Kulwin was referring to the so-called "horror budget," which the council asked Hartnett to prepare, to find ways to reduce the town budget by 5 percent. (Download it here.)

"Three days ago I was stunned to read Township Manager Joseph Hartnett's May 12 report to members of the Township Council," Kulwin wrote last Friday. Reducing the library's budget from $3.8 million to the state's mandated $2.2 million was the second proposal on the list. Other proposals included deferring pension costs, selling township property and granting new liquor licenses.

"I could not believe what I read," Kulwin added. "Mr. Hartnett believes that Council members should consider restricting the library to the state-mandated minimum. The impact on the library - and the Township - would be devastating."

Thus far, library leadership has refrained from public comment on the budget process. After this week, that is no longer possible.
An immediate cut to the state-mandated minimum would leave only enough funding this year to cover salaries for a third of the staff. The PSE&G bill would be beyond our reach and we would be forced to close the library for weeks and perhaps months. Into the future, such cuts would permanently shut the Bellevue Avenue Branch and the third floor of the main building and would slash weekend and evening hours. Special programs would be history, new acquisitions meager.

Is this the library we want?

Hartnett's 5 percent reduction budget considers the impact on every department. The town council will be discussing the budget at its meeting tonight.

Posted by Debbie Galant on May 19, 2009 8:55 AM

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May 10, 2009

In tough times, libraries are a lifeline

In tough times, libraries are a lifeline
Sunday, May 10, 2009
BY BRENT JOHNSON
For the Star-Ledger
When Jackie Hilles lost her publishing job in January, she found solace at Piscataway's Westergard Library.

She canceled her $50-a-month internet subscription and started using the library's free Web service. She checked out books on finding jobs.

"I'm not alone," Hilles said. "I see at least a half-dozen people every day at the library in my situation. And the numbers are growing."

As the economy continues to droop and people look for ways to save cash, circulation is up 8 percent at libraries across several counties -- including most in Middlesex County -- according to the Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium.

But libraries are feeling the same pinch as their patrons -- and Westergard is a prime example. Rumors have circulated through Piscataway that Westergard -- one of the town's two public libraries -- is in danger of closing due to budgetary shortfalls.

The library stands to receive $300,000 less in township funding than it did last year, which library director James Keehbler said would make it hard for Westergard to stay open.

Hilles has even started a website, SaveTheWestergard.com, to bring awareness to the issue.

"I just hope that library stays open," she said. "I need it."

Mayor Brian Wahler vehemently denies the library will close.

"I don't know who is spreading that rumor," Wahler said, raising his voice at a town council meeting last week. "Shame on them. It's downright despicable."

Demand for services of the nation's libraries tends to shift when the economy dips, said Anne Roman, special projects coordinator for the Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium -- an organization that represents 26 New Jersey libraries, including most in Middlesex County.

Among those now turning to libraries are "people who didn't think anything of buying a book through Amazon or Barnes & Noble," Roman said. "But I think people are thinking twice now before shelling out $25 for a best-seller."

Westergard, which opened in 1980 in the New Market section of Piscataway, has circulated 8,154 more books over the last three months than the same period last year, library director Keehbler said. And internet usage has spiked 25.8 percent.

Middlesex Borough Library has seen a 15 percent increase in circulation this quarter. Sayreville is up 13 percent, Metuchen 12 percent. And that mirrors a national trend.

"If you look at a number of magazines and publications showing ways for people to save in this economy, one of the ideas is for people to investigate their public libraries," Roman said. "It's a community gathering place. It's available through people's tax dollars."

In East Brunswick, library director Carol Nersinger said she has seen more people who likely lost their jobs showing up during daytime hours. They bring their laptops to use the free internet. They use the libraries' printers and copy machines.

But because of a $350,000 reduction in township funding, the library is cutting services, hours and part-time staff.

"That's a very familiar pattern," Nersinger said. "Where the economy is bad, more people turn to us. At the same time, the people we get our money from are also in trouble. When they need us the most is sometimes when the money isn't there."

As for Westergard, the town council said it plans to schedule a meeting with the library's administrators to discuss how to prevent the building from closing.

"There are other things that can be done," Wahler said, noting that townships across the nation are figuring out how to weather the economy.

Lynn Budell, a former Piscataway library director, said she's relieved the council has vowed to help.

"If something like that is gone," Budell said, "it's gone for good. It doesn't come back."

Brent Johnson is a reporter for the New Jersey Local News Service. He can be reached at bjohnson@njlns.com.

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May 8, 2009

Facing $300K in budget cuts, trustees may be forced to close Piscataway library branch

By CAIT CALLAHAN • STAFF WRITER • May 6, 2009

PISCATAWAY — In the face of a nearly $300,000 budget cut from the township libraries' funding, members of the Piscataway Public Library Board of Trustees announced at Tuesday's council meeting that the Westergard Library would not be able to stay open if the cut was made — an idea Mayor Brian C. Wahler staunchly rejected.

"When (Library Board of Trustees President) Fred (Cassady) brought it up — and I like Fred Cassady very well — I said, "What are you talking about? That's not an option,"' Wahler said, adding that no one from the municipal government ever suggested closing a library as a way to cut costs.

But Piscataway Libraries Director James Keehbler said the board has looked at possible reductions in hours as a cost-saving measure, but determined the reductions necessary to meet the cut to be unrealistic.

"We looked at reducing hours, and we couldn't find any schedule that people would be able to understand or make real use of," he said. "... We understand there is a financial issue for the township, and we could certainly make some reductions, but $300,000 was not something we could do."

But Wahler said the township is instituting cuts across the board, and the library is just one portion of the township that will to have to learn to function under new budget constraints.

"They're going to have to think about how they deliver their services," he said. "All the department heads, including the library, are going to go through some changes that they may not like. (Closing is) not going to be an option. That's not acceptable. I am not in favor of that, and I have a vote on that (library) board."

Though both parties agree the library should stay open, neither has determined how to meet the budget demands. While Wahler said he is putting the responsibility on all of his department heads to determine what is necessary, Cassady said the board will meet privately Monday to discuss its options, as well as with the mayor and township council at another time.

"We were happy to hear that the township administration doesn't want the branch to close. We agree. We think it's a vital part of that community," Keehbler said.

He said he is hopeful the board will be able to figure out an acceptable option, but Wahler said that even if the question of closing the branch did come to a vote, it would not be entertained.

"I'm confidant in that," he said.

Cait Callahan;

908-243-6612;

ccallahan@

Posted by tumulty at 7:00 PM | Comments (0)
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Librarians learning how to help find employment, not just books

Thursday, May 7, 2009
BY MERRY FIRSCHEIN
NorthJersey.com
Staff Writer
HASBROUCK HEIGHTS — Librarians usually help patrons find answers, but the recession has raised a new question with increasing frequency: How do they help people access unemployment information?

A special seminar Thursday taught librarians from more than 30 municipal libraries throughout northern and northwestern New Jersey the most important answers for patrons who are applying for unemployment and accessing programs to help them find jobs.

The 90-minute seminar was sponsored by the New Jersey State Library, state and regional library associations and the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

People seeking unemployment information “need someone reliable, dependable that they feel comfortable in confiding their situation,” Hasbrouck Heights Library Director Mimi Hui said. “It’s one more hat that we are now being asked to wear.”

Librarians learned the difference between applying for unemployment insurance on the state’s Web site and applying by telephone, which questions to ask patrons to help them figure out how to apply, how to understand the language used in the application itself and even where to find the information on the Internet.

About four or five people each day are asking reference librarians in Hasbrouck Heights for help with unemployment-related information, said Catherine Dodwell, head of reference.

Knowing where to find information is the first priority, librarians said. Sylvia Zasloff, reference supervisor at the Paramus Library, said a man called her recently wondering how to find out about unemployment insurance.

“He scrolled with me [on our Web site] and said he was grateful” that Zasloff could show him exactly where the information was, she said.

Librarians can be a reassuring presence to people who are shocked at being out of work and do not know what to do, said John Maguire of the Labor Department.

“You can set expectations for the claimants,” Maguire told the librarians.

Maguire gave the librarians tips to ease patrons’ anxiety about the unemployment process. For instance, for people who need to file for unemployment over the telephone, the best time to call is Wednesday or Thursday afternoons, not 9 a.m. Monday, when phone waits could be as long as two hours, he said.

The collaboration with the librarians helps both the state and libraries, said Glen Jacobs, an employment training specialist for the Labor Department.

“We are trying to reach people who we don’t usually see,” he said. “We are trying to do more with less.”

E-mail: firschein@northjersey.com

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May 5, 2009

Libraries eye stimulus money for their Web access

ANDREW VANACORE
May 5, 2009
The Associated Press

The libraries in Delaware County, Pa., are trying to shift into warp speed. The county is hooking eight branches to a fiber-optic network to help meet library patrons' ever-rising demand for high-bandwidth tasks like streaming educational videos and uploading online resumes.

Yet that still leaves 17 of the county's branches in the digital slow lane.

Jacking just the eight libraries into fiber lines is costing about $200,000 this year, a big chunk of the roughly $3 million budget that David Belanger, the county's director of public libraries, has to work with. So the other branches have to wait.

Belanger's situation is fairly typical, according to the American Library Association. That's where $7.2 billion in federal stimulus money for expanding broadband comes in , or so many libraries hope.

The library association is trying to convince the federal agencies in charge of doling out stimulus grants that libraries are the best way to extend high-speed service to the most people.

The group released a survey Tuesday in which nearly 60 percent of libraries said their Internet connections couldn't meet bandwidth demands at peak hours. At the same time, 70 percent said they are the only source of free Internet access in their communities.

"If the government's goal is to make sure everyone has access to broadband, the most fiscally responsible way to do that is attaching fiber to the libraries," said Emily Sheketoff, who heads the American Library Association's office in Washington. "By investing under $1 billion, you could hook up every public library in the country to high speed."

Whether that happens is, in part, up to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is working on criteria for judging grant applications under the stimulus package. NTIA spokesman Mark Tolbert said the agency could not comment on the specifics of the application process before the criteria are released this summer.

In a prepared statement, he said, "The ALA's opinion is very important and is part of the extensive input we've received from the public on how best to implement the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program."

Libraries are nevertheless competing with other constituencies for the stimulus spending. Aside from telecommunications companies looking to expand their networks, advocates for the poor say getting more high-speed access to people's homes should be a priority.

"We have a national opportunity to put poor people first when it comes to broadband," said Rey Ramsey, chairman of the nonprofit group One Economy Corp. "The best way to do that is to provide an avenue that mirrors what middle-income and upper-income people have, and that's home access."

Ramsey pointed out that public facilities like libraries already get federal help. The stimulus bill itself designates $200 million for grants to libraries, community colleges and other public venues.

And the federal E-rate program, which has been operating for years, provides schools and libraries with money for high-speed Internet infrastructure.

Library advocates argue that they deserve stimulus funding because they provide crucial services to a large number of people, especially in less-affluent areas where fewer individuals can afford high-speed Internet. More people are going online to apply for jobs and access government services , a trend accelerated by the recession, the advocates say.

As a result, the ALA's Sheketoff is urging the government to favor broadband-grant applications that "guarantee broad community accessibility."

"Libraries are really anchor institutions in many communities," said John Bertot, a professor in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland and the lead researcher in the ALA's survey.

"Libraries are continuing to expand online services by making broadband and wireless available," he said. "But they are running into some constraints."

Among the barriers are high costs and the need for technical expertise to run faster networks, he said.

And even with fiber networks, more work may be needed to ensure fast enough speeds as library traffic grows.

All 34 libraries in the Pacific Library Partnership in the San Francisco Bay area have fiber connections, but the network is "getting slower now because everyone is using it," said Linda Crowe, the partnership's executive director. "If you build it they will come."

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May 4, 2009

Passaic Library baffled by borrowing

Monday, May 4, 2009
Last updated: Monday May 4, 2009, 10:29 AM
BY JAMES YOO
NorthJersey.com
STAFF WRITER
PASSAIC – The library board wants to know why some patrons leave Passaic to borrow thousands of titles already owned by the city's public library system.

The habit of borrowing titles from libraries outside the city cost $20,000 in 2008. Trustees would like to see that money instead go toward new materials.

Library staff this year found that 50,000 books were borrowed from outside libraries in 2008 by Passaic library cardholders, said Mario Gonzalez, the library director.

About 400 patrons borrowed mostly children's literature and preschool and picture books from Rutherford and Nutley libraries, and returned them to Passaic drop boxes, Gonzalez said.

But each title taken out by a Passaic cardholder from a library in Rutherford, for example, costs the Passaic system 40 cents. That added up to $20,000 in 2008.

What's got library officials baffled is why city cardholders would borrow books elsewhere when Passaic has most of the heavily borrowed titles.

"Every book people borrow in Rutherford or Nutley we have in Passaic," said board president, Walter Porto.

Library trustees hope the public can shed light on the situation at the next board meeting on May 19. Board members are contemplating solutions such as changing open borrowing and replacing it with a referral system.

Open borrowing allows cardholders to check out and return books and other materials from any library. It's free for cardholders if they take materials from a library belonging to the same consortium as their home library. But if they go elsewhere outside that consortium of libraries, a charge may apply.

Gonzalez, the library director, had no figures for open borrowing that occurred before 2008. But he said the numbers seem high.

"Fifty-thousand [titles] makes you wonder what's going on," he said. "Our quandary is why are they going [there] and not here," he said.

The city library belongs to the PALS Plus consortium, a program of the Passaic County Library System, and pays about $50,000 for a number of support and technical services the consortium provides, Gonzalez said.

The city library used to belong to the Bergen County Cooperative Library System (BCCLS) but left it for PALS Plus in 2007 to save about $20,000. At the time, it was reported that many of the 37,000 materials borrowed by Passaic cardholders were picked up directly from the Rutherford library.

Gonzalez said he had heard anecdotally that street parking was one reason city cardholders borrowed from Rutherford.

The lack of a full-time children's librarian in 2008 also may contributed, he said. A children's librarian is in place now, and Gonzalez has asked the librarian to display the exact books that are being borrowed from other libraries but returned to Passaic drop boxes.

"We know that we have the materials," he said. "We may not have 100 percent of the materials. But we have most."

Porto, the board president, said a possible solution would be to end or restrict open borrowing and replace it with a referral system. For example, if a Passaic cardholder wants to check out a book outside the city, the librarian would ask them to check with the city library first. But he and Gonzalez both stressed that it's important to hear from the public before taking action to address cardholders' issues.

"We need to find out why this is happening," Gonzalez said.

E-mail: yoo@northjersey.com

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