A Parable for Libraries by Storyteller Bob Kanegis

Recently, the Albuquerque city council heard comments from the public on a recommendation that their libraries be cut by 8 full time positions, on top of 8 vacancies not filled the prior year, on top of other cuts dating back to 2000. The recommendation represented a real reduction of 25%, compared with the goal of cutting the overall city staff by 8%. Bob Kanegis, a local storyteller, used his two minutes on the following parable:

A farmer had a wonderful horse that he worked 12 hours every day. One day he arrived in the fields and realized to his chagrin that he'd forgotten to feed the horse in the morning. Nevertheless, the horse worked the full 12 hours and all the work was accomplished. The farmer was surprised but also intrigued. Perhaps the horse could get by with less food.

So the next morning, the farmer fed the horse, but a little less than usual. Again, the horse finished the day and finished the work. And so it went. Each day the farmer continued the experiment. With each passing day the horse ate less and less and accomplished all the work.

Then on the 30th day, just as the experiment was going SO WELL, the darn horse up and died.

We have fabulous libraries here, and people who love them and use them often and well. A city staffer mentioned alluded to a survey that 70+ % of people here think the libraries are doing a great job even though the vacant positions were not filled. (So everything must be fine, right?)

He forwarded his parable and comments to a library professional organization with these words: "If you find this little parable useful, or perhaps too close to the truth, please feel free to pass it on in your advocacy work. One member of the city council alluded to the 'truth' and warning in the story, in strong comments he made in defense of the libraries. And thank you for your work and for being the bridge to the future and culture keepers that you are."

Here in Plainfield, the story is a little different. Our budget has increased, but nowhere near as much as library use and the population size! Per capita, the Library's budget has not changed since the early 1990's - and that's not adjusted for inflation. Our horse is being fed, but is working 24 hours a day!

Thank you, Mr. Kanegis, for supporting your local public library. Librarians are good at doing more with less. But that can lead to the assumption that we can continue doing more with less indefinitely.

Strip Mall Site for Branch Would Require Drastic Cuts of Other Services

A resident recently asked me about the possibility of off-loading some collection or service to satellite facility that could be located in one of the vacant strip malls around town. Surely, the library could get space donated and then could run a branch?

This is an idea that the board of Trustees have investigated before - and will again. The concept of leasing rather than building an additional library facility as part of a revised referendum plan is under consideration by Library Board of Trustees. Over the next year, you will see and hear more about the reworking of the referendum and that planning process. Without additional funds, the Library’s budget today is insufficient to support a second facility unless major cuts are made to existing services. With demand for service outstripping income, plus an aging building that costs more to maintain every year, the cost of furnishing and stocking even a small strip mall space and the ongoing cost of rent, staffing and utilities are beyond our means. Checkouts increased 318% in the last ten years while the Library’s income increased only 161%. For now, the Library Board of Trustees is investing the Library’s limited funds in maintaining the existing building and making maximum use of the existing space. In the future, with funding from a referendum, a leased facility in a strip mall may be possible.

As for receiving a donated space, both the Library and Park District need more space, but so far there are no offers of donated space for either entity. Even if a benefactor gave us a furnished and stocked branch today, drastic cuts to existing services would have to be made in order to operate it.

Yes, the Library's budget is that tight. No, there is nothing left to cut that won't leave a community need unserved. Last year, I posted "Drafting the FY11 Budget" about the Library's budget freeze, despite a use increase of more than 20%. As always, the Library will make do within its means. But taking on something new can only happen if it comes with money to support it today and into the future.

Employee Compensation is Key to Responsible Budgeting, Library Style.

Between this article and all the time I have recently spent on the budget, I've been thinking about employee compensation. On the local level, the Library has struggled with equitable pay and keeping up with demand for services. With personnel as the largest expense for Library, and indeed for any service organization, it is critical to keep employment costs under control. Increasing demand for services makes that a difficult proposition.

While the Library's circulation has quadrupled in the last decade, the number of staff has doubled. Each employee is asked to do more every year. As we find innovative ways to use technology to help relieve workload, management and oversight of those technologies continues to add to employees' duties. Just as in the private sector, as companies downsize, maintaining employee productivity is not an option - productivity must increase to meet demand. Unfortunately for the Library, increased productivity does not mean increased revenue. Only voter support of a referendum can do that. Increased revenue from new homes and businesses coming onto the property tax rolls only works only during a boom economy. Eventually, as now, the boom ends, the revenue stream becomes flat while employer costs continue to rise. But for libraries, the boom in use begins when economic crisis hits.

A few years ago, the Library was hemorrhaging employees to the school district and private sector because base pay had not kept pace with the job market. When this was addressed by the Library's Board of Trustees, they examined both public and private sector jobs to help them determine an equitable base pay structure and benefits package for the Library. Creation of a compensation system that benchmarks base pay to a community standard and recognizes employee merit in alternating years, the Board of Trustees struck a balance in employee compensation that helps control cost while allowing the Library to attract and retain good employees.

While federal and state government operate with deficit spending, local governments like the Library do not. Today, the Library has no debt since the 1990 building bonds were paid off earlier this year. When building bonds are issued on the local level, voter-supported referenda ensure the revenue stream to fulfill those obligations. Pension obligations are met every year through a pension fund that operates responsibly. Your locally-elected Board of Trustees would not tolerate a deficit budget. The Library operates within its means, given to the Library by you, the taxpayer. For this Library, employee compensation that is fair to both the employee and the taxpayer is the basis of responsible budgeting, meeting today's demand for service without spending tomorrow's tax dollar.

Drafting the FY11 Budget

It's a good news/bad news situation.

The good news: the Library is doing 20% more business! We're up double-digits across all measures for use statistics, about 20% overall. More library cards, more PC uses, more questions answered, more people attending programs, more more more...

Then comes the bad news. With just 1% more money, we need to keep up with demand that has hit double-digit increases over the prior year for a 10 years in a row! Unlike a business that receives more money when business is good, our income is not tied to how much use the Library is getting. Most budget lines will be frozen at their FY10 level.

It is not as bad as it could be. Unlike many of our neighbors, our Library is not facing a huge deficit or layoffs or the like. By the same token, it is a challenge to keep up with the demand for services that our residents are making. Conservative fiscal management and planning have served us well, helping us to keep up and make do through years of the increases in use outstripping any increases in funding.

Bottom line: Fiscal Year 2011 will not have cuts to services, staffing and hours at the Plainfield Public Library. In these times, that's about as good as it gets.

Budgeting for the new fiscal year

As the staff and I work through the process of creating a budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009.

The overall budget is estimated to receive a total increase of 4%, with the property tax portion held to a 1.05% increase on existing property in the district plus the amount received from new property in the district. That includes any newly-constructed property added to the tax rolls since the last tax year. The percentage increase is on the dollar amount collected. The tax rate for the district continues to decline.

Our mandated Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund contribution rate, the second largest single budget line outside of staff salaries, will increase nearly 10% next fiscal year, necessitating freezes or limited increases of 3% or less to all other budget lines. The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) is the pension fund for library employees. IMRF contribution rates and formulas are entirely controlled by state law. Until the recent downturn, IMRF was one of the only state pension funds to be fully funded. This increase in contribution rate is required to meet the state laws governing IMRF.

These budget constraints for the upcoming fiscal year have led me to request that the Board of Trustees freeze my salary for the upcoming fiscal year and instead to use those funds to maximize staff salary increases. Initial budgeting for FY10 shows that staff salary increases will have to be capped at 3% or less for the total salaries budget. Two years ago, the Board of Trustees approved a compensation plan that alternated annually between benchmarking of the salary schedule and merit increases. The upcoming fiscal year was to be the first year for merit-based increases to staff salaries. Because our staff has done an incredible job in dealing with huge increases in their workload in recent years - and especially in the past year - I felt it imperative to move forward with salary increases for the staff.

The preliminary budget will be presented to the Board of Trutees in May and finalized in June.

Brainstorming!

How do you fit five gallons into a three gallon bucket?

That is the question facing library staff today. They are brainstorming yet again on how to use the space we have more effectively. Of course, there are major budget constraints on the brainstorming.

The same Special Reserve Fund that is used for capital expenditures like renovations, purchase of property and new computers, is also the only source of emergency funds (like for last year's replacement of an HVAC unit). The library is contracted to purchase the Route 59 parking lot from the Village of Plainfield in 2010, so some of it is earmarked for that purpose. The main source of revenue for this fund is impact fees from developers - of which there have been very few in the past year so it is not being replenished. In the past, the Board was able to transfer the remaining general fund balance into the Special Reserve Fund at the end of each year. However, double-digit cost increases in mandated funds like the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and liability insurance fund outstripping revenues, that general fund balance is now transferred to those funds to prevent deficits.

Staff is watching the bottom-line carefully as they discuss changes that would free up space and maintain or improve service.

Feel free to make suggestions - we're open to all ideas during this process.

Stay tuned for announcements of changes ahead!