Dear residents,
2008 was the Library’s busiest year ever. Circulation reached an all time high at 15,627,452 an increase of 5.1% over 2007. Not only did circulation increase but so did reference use with more than 2 million reference questions asked in 2008 a 27% increase over 2007. Program attendance was also up with 324,328 attending Library programs in 2008, an increase of 6.7% over 2007. During this record-breaking year, the number of visits to the Library exceeded 5.6 million. Use of the Library’s online resources also reached an all-time high with 87.3 million uses in 2008.
In 2008 we received recognition as one of the busiest and best public libraries in the country. Amazingly, our Main Library, with circulation of more than 4 million annually, was recognized as the busiest library building in the country. It’s busier than the central libraries in Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York or Miami. What a great accomplishment for an already great Library! Additionally, we were once again ranked in the top 10 circulating libraries in the country and the top 10 in Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings for libraries serving a population of 500,000 or more.
Community residents need, and are using, their public Library. So it’s difficult to accept that many of these vital programs and services and possibly even branch libraries, may have to be cut in 2009. The State economy has continued to falter and the annual State income to our Library declined even further in 2008 dropping nearly $1 million. When added to the nearly $5 million lost in 2001 and 2002 and the new estimate for 2009 which shows a further decline of $3.2 million, our Library’s annual State funding is down by approximately $9 million or more than 16%!
Our Library has been a good steward of public funds. For the past several years we have worked hard to find savings, cutting hours by 10%, reducing staff by more than 100 positions, postponing capital projects, reducing or postponing raises, reorganizing the Main Library resulting in $1 million operating costs savings, but despite these efforts our expenses continue to increase.
It is simply not possible to continue offering the high quality services our community needs with this level of funding. So, in 2009 we will be faced with a very difficult situation. We must locate a steady source of funding to keep our Library operating. If we don’t, further cuts will be necessary including further reductions in hours and staffing and closing branch libraries, until our expenses are within our income.
In good times and in bad, the Library has been here for you offering the full range of services you need at convenient and accessible locations. It is crucial that we keep our Library top quality so that today’s children can read and learn within our familiar walls. Our community depends on it.
