Editorial: Basic Bucks, No Bailout

Francine Fialkoff -- Library Journal, 4/7/2009 11:25:00 AM

At the end of march, a “Dear Colleague” letter went around the House of Representatives from Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), asking fellow members of Congress to sign on to support FY10 Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) and Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Program appropriations to the tune of $300 million and $100 million, respectively. In the current Congress, those numbers seem like chump change. Yet, Grijalva, a longtime supporter of both of these key programs, got slightly more than half the number of signatories as he did in 2004, a year after he took office. Guess those folks have their hands full with big money bailouts rather than small, standing initiatives like LSTA.

Grijalva is no stranger to libraries. His wife is a retired librarian (Tucson-Pima Public Library), and one of his daughters graduated from the University of Arizona Knowledge River library curriculum, so he comes by his library know-how firsthand. The letter clearly delineates the role of libraries, especially in a down economy. Yet, barely 24 hours before the letter was due to an education appropriations subcommittee, the American Library Association Washington Office was still working the email lists urging both library vendors and other advocates to call their representatives yet again to sign on.

The dollars requested represent an incremental advance on FY09 figures (about $215 million), yet even in this dire economic environment, there appears to be resistance. Ironically, the day before Grijalva’s letter was due to the House subcommittee, a front-page, above-the-fold story in the New York Times (4/2/09) described not only the increase in library patronage but the expanding services that libraries provide, with hints of the accompanying strains on resources and staff. One of my pet peeves has long been that the mainstream media just doesn’t “get” libraries. Now, they are starting to get them only too well, going beyond the old saws and testimonials (“I love libraries”) and delving into the current reality.

Chipping away at those misconceptions should be enough to make me happy. Unfortunately, the new understanding doesn’t seem to be moving from the reporters who finally get it and the citizens who are using libraries in droves for job search, training, social services, and free entertainment to the legislators who provide funding. We hear daily about potential cuts to library funding as states, cities, and towns nationwide face declining revenues.

Librarians have always been assiduous grant writers for both public and private money. Now, however, some of the private dollars are drying up, too, and as Wayne Miller, director of the North Country Library System in upstate New York commented on LibraryJournal.com recently (3/27/09), there’s never been enough money to go around anyhow. Miller’s was one of 515 grant proposals for innovative library projects received by the ICMA (an educational and professional organization of city/county managers). The grants are funded through a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, whose contributions to libraries are well known.

Nevertheless, as Miller pointed out:

[M]any of the 95% who were not funded and many more who did not have enough support from their municipalities to generate a submission are just as worthy and in need of financial help. We also deserve broader recognition for the community services beyond lending books that this grant bestows. It is a testament to the hard work and eternal optimism of librarians that we are willing to invest tremendous time and effort to better our communities without taxing them.

While federal funding is only a miniscule portion of overall library budgets, an increase is more than warranted, given the dire need for library services. And members of Congress can rest easy knowing that, unlike some of their other supplicants, no librarians will be receiving bonuses or parties in country clubs on the public’s dime.