Feeling the Pinch

We're facing what many have called the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, with one in ten Americans unemployed. It's no surprise, then, that the 2010 book-buying survey of public libraries is on the dark side. Representing some 100 institutions nationwide distributed equitably by size, type, and location, our annual survey aims to capture the big picture. This year, think Edvard Munch's The Scream.

With half of LJ's respondents reporting stalled adult book budgets and over a third reporting cuts, this year's adult book budget figure was down overall by nearly five percent—the second tumble in as many years and the biggest decrease since this survey began in 1998. The smallest libraries, serving populations under 10,000, got away with the smallest slippage, averaging 1.5 percent overall. But three-quarters of respondents serving populations 500,000 or more saw book funding decrease, with the plunge for these libraries averaging 19 percent. Fully half the libraries in the South and the Southwest/Mountain region suffered cuts—more than anywhere else—but when the axe did fall, libraries in the Pacific region bled the most. There, decreases averaged nearly ten percent overall.

Librarians, of course, are adept at squeezing everything they can from their budgets, and LJ's respondents reacted briskly when funds began to fade. One in four coped by purchasing fewer multiple copies, one in five by purchasing fewer books, and one in six by reducing standing-order plans, buying less print reference, maintaining larger holds-to-copy ratios, and focusing on top-circulating materials. Larger libraries were more likely to belt tighten by cutting down on multiple-copy purchases and standing-order plans—probably because they had been making comparatively more of such purchases in the first place. Smaller libraries were more likely to toss out orders for print reference.

Beyond these tried-and-true maneuvers, reported in previous surveys, respondents had some new moves to recommend. Ten percent acknowledged that they made ends meet by reducing the number of database subscriptions and/or renegotiating current subscriptions. Others cut magazine subscriptions or music and other media purchases. Still others asked for donations—and not just money. “We have encouraged patrons to donate their own best sellers once they have finished with them,” explains Kathy Mosher, Skaneateles Library, NY, which serves a population under 10,000.

Then there's the do-it-yourself approach to tasks once shifted elsewhere; for instance, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh “has stopped outsourcing barcoding and laminating,” reports Patricia James. Of course, outsourcing such tasks to save money and particularly staff time has been a trend cited by LJ over the last many years. Perhaps the current book budget cuts will prompt a change of direction.

When faced with decreases, respondents tended to tilt what funds they had toward areas of highest interest. For instance, at Narberth Community Library, PA (under 10,000), notes Mary Glendening, “We cut the adult budget to increase the children's and YA budgets since they account for a greater share of our circulation.” But few respondents seem to have undercut one format in favor of another, preferring to slash across the board. In this year's survey, books and electronic products (including reference) claimed 65 percent and nine percent of the materials budget, respectively—just about where they've stood for the last five years. True, media have grown to 20 percent of the materials budget, up from 18 percent last year and just 14 percent in 2004. But over the years, it's been only that catchall category, “Other,” that has suffered as a result—perhaps because librarians are more clearly defining the various materials they collect.

Interestingly, responses to LJ's ongoing book-buying survey show that while materials budgets have been sorely constrained over the last decade, total operating budgets keep going up (see “Total Operating Budgets vs. Materials Budgets, 2000–2009,” p. 38). With libraries nationwide reportedly freezing salaries, shrinking staff, and opening their doors for fewer hours, where's the money going?

For librarians, the answer is obvious. Electricity bills are up. Maintenance bills are up. Where libraries have assumed health-care costs, benefits are up. Increased computer use means more wear and tear, more updates and replacements, and more staff time for fixing glitches and giving impromptu technology lessons. All this at a time when municipalities are passing expenses back to libraries.

Some of these pass-alongs are occasional—“Where the town may have once plowed the library parking lot without thinking twice, now the library gets billed for it,” points out Keith McCoy, Roselle Public Library, NJ. But others are significantly reshaping U.S. public library budgets. Explains McCoy, echoing many colleagues, “Health-care costs, which were once assumed by the municipality, are increasingly the responsibility of the library. Ten employees at $15,000 apiece for bennies—that's a very unpleasant surprise, and it's not negotiable.”

Of course, even where raises have been stopped cold and positions cut, salaries still take up a huge chunk of the budget. Nevertheless, directors faced with tighter budgets are often reluctant to sacrifice staff (or further staff) for books. Certainly, they need the work to get done and to be assured that the expertise is there when materials budgets bounce back. In addition, they may be finding the easiest way to cope. “Books are future and faceless, staff are present and have voices,” offers McCoy. “It's always easier not to do something (i.e., buy books) than to do something (furlough, layoff, and so on).”

The picture may look bleak, but this year's survey has one bright spot: circulation. Adult book circulation has been on the upswing for a decade, but never has it grown as astoundingly as it did this year, which boasted the biggest leap since the survey was launched. Three-quarters of LJ's respondents had increased adult book circulation in 2009, with an average increase of just over seven percent—up from about five percent last year and about three percent in 2001. Total adult book circulation averaged 762,000, with a per capita average of about six (vs. 4.3 in 2005).

Tracked for the first time in this survey, media circulation was also robust. No surprise there. Circulation ranged from 26,000 on average at the smallest libraries to 1.5 million on average at the largest for an overall average of 247,000. Nearly eight in ten respondents cited an increase in media circulation—only a bit more than that for books—and increases averaged 7.6 percent.

Ebook circulation, also tracked for the first time this year, made a modest showing. It's just 0.2 percent of total circulation, ranging from 32,657 on average at libraries serving populations over 500,000 down to none whatsoever at libraries serving populations under 10,000. Respondents did, however, report a two percent jump overall in ebook use.

Fiction dominates circulation, having also overtaken nonfiction in public library book buying some years back (see “The Turnaround,” LJ 2/15/05). Six in ten books now checked out at respondents' libraries are fiction titles, and the figure is even higher among smaller libraries; institutions serving populations over 500,000 have a more even split.

Once again, how-to titles take the top spot in nonfiction circulation, having dethroned medicine/health just last year (see “It's the Economy,” LJ 2/15/09). Fully 61 percent of respondents cited how-to among their top five nonfiction circulators, with cooking coming in a close second at 60 percent and health/medicine—cited by just 48 percent of respondents—ranking a distant third (see “Top Nonfiction Circulation/Expenditures,” p. 37).

Health/medicine was down from last year's 53 percent, but it didn't have 2010's biggest slip. That distinction belongs to arts/crafts/collectibles, which fell 11 percentage points, though it still ranks fifth. Perhaps folks don't have the time anymore to attend to their artistic side, but they do love reading biography, which rose 13 percentage points this year to a spot just behind health/medicine.

Most biography readers were in the indoorsy Northeast, with 65 percent of respondents in that region naming it among their top circulators vs. 20 percent in the Southwest/Mountain region. There, top-ranked how-to reigns supreme, as it does in the Midwest. Cookery takes the cake in the South, where 80 percent of respondents noted cookbooks flying out the door, by far the biggest percentage of any region. Interestingly, health/medicine titles were also most popular in the South; could there be a relationship?

Among areas of anticipated growth, where libraries need more information, LJ's respondents highlighted computers/technology (cited by 23 percent as one of their top three picks). Other hot topics included financial planning/retirement (18 percent), current events (14 percent), careers/jobs (12 percent), and the ever-popular how-to (11 percent)—all clearly reflecting current realities, as Americans reposition themselves in the new economy and find a different way to live. Are they also clamoring for history (11 percent) to see what can be learned from past mistakes? Perhaps, though for some it's doubtless fun reading. The only growth area obviously hinting at entertainment is that of graphic novels, cited by 12 percent of respondents.

To get information about books in these and other areas, librarians are beginning to move beyond the obvious and exploit social-networking tools. Nearly half of LJ's respondents say they now rely on tools like GoodReads or LibraryThing to clue them in on what's hot, what's not, and how a book might fit their needs. Not that such resources replace reviews appearing in the standard sources. But many librarians are finding the edgy, outspoken back-and-forth of the social network useful for getting a better feel for a book's true impact and undercurrents, and these resources can help fill gaps in the collection.

Librarians will continue building their collections, searching out new tools that will help them get the very best for their communities whatever the budget constraints. The current crisis won't shutter that initiative, but it will likely reshape what budgets and circulation look like for the foreseeable future. More how-to, more technology, and bigger payouts for benefits are now part of the territory. But it's still a rich land to plow.