Budget Shortfalls

With the downturn in the economy, most public and academic libraries once again face budget cuts. Our experience with fiscal cycles shows that it takes several years before budgets get restored. In the interim, much ground can be lost in terms of people served, collections developed, facilities built, and personnel hired. We have to make these cuts intelligently because we need viable libraries. Additionally, we must position our libraries for the future when budgets will get better. This takes skill and forethought. Here are some tips to remember when managing a cutback.

Think about a budget cutback as a planning process. Focus less on what to cut and more on what you want to preserve. What you eliminate and keep makes a statement about the type of library that you will have. Take time to weigh priorities in light of your goals.

A high-risk strategy includes visible and dramatic cuts, such as hours, the collection, or even closing a branch. Librarians choose this tack to get public attention, hopefully provoking users to protest. Such a strategy has powerful consequences. If it works, the budget will be restored. However, there may be injury to relationships up the ladder that may linger. If the plan fails, the budget will not be restored, indicating that the director overestimated the library's political clout. This could anger the director's supervisor and users, thus squandering valuable goodwill. In the best high-risk strategy, the library is just one part of a broader effort undertaken by the parent organization. This magnifies political clout and allows the library to be perceived as less oppositional.

Choose a low-risk strategy when it is in the library's best interests not to pit users against the parent organization. Low-risk cuts are made behind the scenes and are not as immediately visible. This strategy works best only in short-term situations, however. In an extended shortfall, all cuts become visible as services, collections, technology, and buildings eventually are compromised. To assess what risk level will work best study the current environment as well as the history of the library and the parent organization for past strategies that worked or failed.

Do not confuse long-term cuts with short-term ones. The trick, of course, is figuring out which is which. If you think a budget cut will be short term, it is best to preserve the collections and services so that they can be built back. Libraries subjected to short-term cuts should shave dollars from many areas, a low-risk strategy. A long-term cut often requires major changes such as the elimination of services. However, this does not necessarily demand a high-risk strategy. Major cuts can be made with the approval of the parent organization. If you are not sure if the cut is long or short term, cut service levels rather than service categories. Once a service is gone, it may be impossible to get it back.

Across-the-board cuts are among the most politically digestible. It is easier to say that everyone received a ten percent cut, for example. This eliminates favoritism and politicking. However, across-the-board assumes that the playing field is equal to begin with but tends to impact smaller units in the library more than large ones.

Watch out for cookie-cutter solutions to budget cuts and get ready to counter them. People will bombard you with simplistic sentiments: "Why don't you just write a grant?," "Why do you need expensive people with degrees to work here?" and "Think of it as rightsizing." The inner workings of a library mystify most people. Forget about explaining library processes; focus instead on results, on the mission, and on the value of libraries.

During budget cuts, a library will lose a lot of energy. However, it is imperative to set goals and move forward. Consider it preparation for when the budget wave crests again. Keep the momentum going. Define what your library does, and do it well.

In a budget cut, especially a severe one, information is volatile. This is frustrating for managers and staff alike. Let staff know that the information is likely to change. Remember also that in times of anxiety, the need for information increases dramatically. If the director does not provide information, someone else will—no matter how inaccurate. In the absence of information, staff will create information. So, walk about, share what you know, have an open door policy. This volatility is another reason not to rush. Instead, wait and see if the picture becomes clearer.

Know what things really cost before cutting. Build a five-year retrospective of the budget and activity statistics. This information is needed before making realistic decisions about a cut, but gathering it at the last minute usually leads to mistakes. Additionally, you can use statistical and budget information to mount the library's budget defense to the parent organization or the press.

Take special care around midyear cuts; it is very difficult to absorb a ten percent cut when half the budget is already spent. If you suspect a midyear budget cut is coming, hold some funds back. Not too much, however; you don't want the parent organization to think the library has a pot of money for the taking.

Reevaluate sacred cows. Challenge every assumption that you have. Be relevant in the services that you provide and communicate that relevancy all the time—not just at budget time. No institution's value is so self-evident that it escapes explanation. People will act on their perception of the library. Make sure that you shape that image continually through quality services and solid communication.

Make changes now that will save money. Merge service desks. Eliminate unnecessary meetings. Develop patron independence, for example, through the web or better signage. These items can add up, freeing staff time for other activities. This is no time to retreat. Be vocal. Be visible. Be positive.

The staff should not arrive in the morning and find a service in cement overshoes. Swift, secret cuts create anger and fear—scarcely the best approach. Whenever possible, make cuts an open, group process. You will need your staff's best thinking.

Often the parent organization dictates layoffs, but if it is within the library's control, use attrition and hiring freezes when possible. If layoffs must occur, help employees find other positions. Also, tend to the survivors of staff cuts, as they will be wounded in a different way.

Be careful not to get dirty. Don't go after other people's territories or funds or use layoffs to play games with people or positions. You will never be forgiven. Instead, the library should remain driven by positive values. In other words, be fair.

Don't worry about who "Mom" likes best, as it is rarely going to be the library. If you are in a public library, it is going to be police and fire first. If you are in an academic or school library, it is going to be instruction first. Don't waste energy emoting about why them and not us.

Be mindful that a coping culture can dominate the library during budget problems, so continue to reward people who transcend their situation, who are champions in spite of the difficulty.

Also, watch out for a mentality of scarcity among staff, which manifests itself in competition for limited resources. A budget cut calls for unity. Communication, open and fair decision-making, a clear understanding of priorities, and a participatory approach to solving the library's challenges will help.

It is hard to accept the cuts when they finally come. Distress and resistance can remain potent for some time. However, as long as they rule, you won't have the clear head to handle the cut wisely. Get beyond these feelings and move forward.

We also feel anger when our budgets are cut: anger that our value is not recognized, anger about faulty assumptions about our place in the universe, and anger at our helplessness over the situation. However, anger clouds judgment. Remember the cutbacks aren't personal. No librarians should measure their worth by a budget cut. No one can withstand the tide of a bad economy.

Often librarians get so disgusted with the cuts that all they want is out. However, in a bad budget year, it isn't any better elsewhere. Worse, this attitude can lead to alienation from the parent organization, making it harder to get the information we need to keep our libraries on track.

Choosing to make a cut visible is different from punishing users with the cuts. Perhaps users did not vote for a bond or perhaps they lobbied for another agency to be preserved over the library. Regardless, they are the library's raison d'être. They also form a powerful constituency. Let the users know that the library has had an unavoidable cut and that you will do the best you can for them. The average users have no idea what it costs to run a library or how funding works; they may be unsympathetic, regardless of how well you treat them, because services or materials are reduced. Constant communication is the best remedy.

Make sure that the front-line staff who work with the public have key statistics about the cuts and answers for the most likely questions. Put this material on your web pages and in newsletters, too.

Strive to keep perspective and remain positive. Budgets are cyclical. It will get better again. In the meantime, attend well to the services that your library can provide. There are two keys to success in life: focus on goals and being able to handle a setback. A budget cut is a good time to exercise both.

Lastly, remember the words of Theodore Roosevelt: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."