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July 12, 2010

Interlibrary loan program at risk due to funding cuts

Published: Friday, July 09, 2010, 5:41 PM
nj.com
Independent Press
Liz Keill

REPRIEVE FROM BUDGET CUTS - New Providence Public Library is just one of the many town and municipal libraries throughout the state that would be affected by budget cuts, hampering residents' access to interlibrary loans, database access and more.

A meeting this week in Trenton might have saved some services at public libraries within the Independent Press circulation area, but no final decisions have been announced, so librarians continue to find new ways to provide their services within limited budgets.

On June 29, Govovernor Chris Christie signed the 2010-11 budget which restored $4.3 million in NJ Network funding, although there is still a significant loss in library funding.

The new budget cuts funding by $6 million, a 43% reduction versus the 74% cut originally proposed by Gov. Christie. It remains to be seen just how the restored funding will be spent.

Approximately 26 librarians gathered on July 7 to make funding decisions. They represented an assortment of libraries, from academia to hospitals, public schools and municipalities. “We are all anxiously awaiting the outcome of those meetings,” Diane O’Brien, director of The Library of the Chathams, said. As of press time, specifics had still not emerged.

But New Jersey library officials received some unexpected good news on Friday that $5.1 million in federal stimulus grants will be spread out over two years to the state’s 365 public libraries. The intent is to expand the computer infrastructure and enhance the resources that assist job seekers.

Interlibrary loan program
New Jersey State Librarian Norma Blake said funding cuts may be scaling back the interlibrary loan program, but at this time, the extent of the cutbacks is unknown. Blake credited a grass roots movement with helping maintain library services, with more than 80,000 postcards and countless emails sent to legislators.

O’Brien called the interlibrary loan program “probably the single most important service we can offer our patrons” and said her main concern is its continuation. The program allows libraries to borrow reciprocally throughout the state. “The state has covered the major cost of this program,” she said, with delivery vans transporting books and other materials from place to place on a daily basis. “I certainly couldn’t move all those books and requests from my car,” she said.

O’Brien said no one library owns everything that people need. Over the past year alone, the Chatham library received 20,760 requests for shared resources. Although several libraries could get together with a courier service, that would still cost money. Items sent via a delivery service, paid through statewide funding, wouldn’t occur. Using the U.S. mail or other carrier services would mean a charge of $3 per item. The library would either need to restrict the number of items a patron could request from another library or pass on the shipping charges to the users of the loan service. For the moment, O’Brien said, the Chatham library is holding steady.

No other local public library has taken the drastic cuts the Summit library has already taken, but all of the librarians share the same concerns.

The Summit Library — which already has shut its doors on Thursday nights, cut staff and increased fines for overdue books — had announced on its website that all interlibrary loans would cease as of last Thursday, July 1. But as the deadline passed last week, Summit Library Director Glenn Devitt said the popular interlibrary loan system would be retained, at least temporarily. However, he said he has not seen the state’s budget yet and he is “sitting tight” with all the conflicting information that’s out there.

Patrons in Summit may borrow books directly from nine local libraries: Berkeley Heights, Bernards Township, Bernardsville, The Chathams, Long Hill, Madison, Millburn, Morristown/Morris Township and New Providence.

“We were encouraged by council to look for alternative funding,” Devitt said. As a result, fines will increase by five cents for children’s books (from 5 cents to 10 cents a day) and from 15 cents to 20 cents a day for adult books. In addition, part time help has been cut back. “If someone leaves, we’re not filling the position,” he said.

“We will not be open Thursday night. We did a survey and that is the slowest evening of library use per hour,” Devitt said. He added, however, that library use fluctuates during the summer. There may be fewer patrons coming in, but they are taking out more books, cd’s and other materials. “I know people are back from vacation when the books are returned with sand and coconut oil,” he quipped. Nevertheless, he said, “Circulations are booming. I expect another record year.”

In Berkeley Heights, Library Director Stephanie Bakos said she doesn’t anticipate any news from the state until next week. She will then share that information with the Board of Trustees at its next meeting in July. “In the meantime,” she said, “life goes on as usual.”

In New Providence, director Colleen Byrne said it’s too soon to make predictions as information is not yet available about specifics of the budget.

Jennifer Konopacki, superintendent at Warren Public Library, explained that Somerset County has eight branches, with its own delivery system. They will not be as badly hurt, she said, as individual municipal libraries that rely on a database and a state delivery system for interlibrary loans.

According to New Jersey Library Association Executive Director Pat Tumulty, the extra funding will allow libraries to continue Internet access, share materials through interlibrary loans and purchase academic databases for library users.

Jim Hechet, director of Somerset County Library Services, has urged patrons to become advocates by visiting Save My NJ Library. The reinstatement of some funds has been the result of advocacy efforts.

Cuts originally proposed would affect commercial databases, frequently used for homework assignments, access to full-text magazine articles, job searches and consumer information.

Hecht said state-wide cooperative purchasing agreements, which allow libraries to obtain databases and other services at reduced costs, would no longer be available. He said the end result would deny thousands of school children and adults equal access to information. Hecht pointed out that libraries are a key resource to help get the New Jersey economy back in shape.

Posted by tumulty at July 12, 2010 8:53 AM

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