New ALA report details economic trends in libraries and 2010 outlook
CHICAGO – At every turn, news reports and research indicate fairly dramatic changes in U.S. library funding, services and staffing – most occurring in the last 18 months. According to a new report prepared by the American Library Association (ALA), libraries of all types are feeling the pinch of the economic downturn while managing sky-high use.

Compiled from a broad range of available sources, The Condition of Libraries: 1999-2009 presents U.S. economic trends (2009), and summarizes trends in public, school and academic libraries across several library measures, including expenditures, staffing and services. The report also highlights trends in services provided to libraries by library cooperatives and consortia.

“This report was prepared to inform and assist library leaders as they plan in these very difficult times,” said ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels. “It succinctly brings together diverse strands of data from the past decade to provide a useful benchmark for the library community and its advocates.”

As communities and academic campuses develop future fiscal plans, it is clear that all types of libraries are visibly hard hit. In a fall 2009 report prepared by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 34 states had reported cuts to higher education, which impacts academic libraries; and 25 states had cut funding to K-12, which impacts school libraries. Total state budget shortfalls for fiscal year 2010 are $178 billion, and FY2011 are estimated to be roughly the same.

Public libraries also have been affected. While the full impact of the economic downturn remains fluid and the data challenging to assemble, what is known is that flat funding has been an obstacle – perhaps even a chronic problem – for many libraries this entire decade. Confirming evidence from a 2006 ALA study of public library funding, a 2009 survey conducted as part of the Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study revealed a worsening of funding – about 20 percent reported flat funding continuing in FY2010 and a majority reported budget reductions. Of those with budget cuts, about 20 percent reported 5-to-10 percent reductions in FY2010 from FY2009.

Library trends include:

School Library Media Centers

• At a time when school enrollment (K-12) is growing, almost all schools reported in 2009 a decrease in funding for information resources, with a median per-student expenditure of just over $12; and
• Fewer school libraries served more students in the 2006-2007 school year compared with the 2002-2003 school year; and
• Total SLMC staff grew slightly, then declined in the 2006-2007 school year compared with 1999-2000.

College and University Libraries

• While student enrollment at colleges and universities has declined since 2004, library use continues to increase. During a typical week in 2008, academic libraries reported more than 20.3 million visits, up from 18.7 million in 2006. They also provided more than 498,000 informational services to groups attended by more than 8.9 million students and faculty, up from 471,000 sessions attended by 8.3 million in 2006;
• In fall 2008, 72 percent of academic libraries reported providing library reference service by e-mail or the Web, about the same as in 2006; and
• Operating expenditures rose modestly during the period 2002 to 2008.

Public libraries

• Total public library circulation and circulation of children’s materials continue to rise.  Circulation of children’s materials has accounted for between 32.9 and 35 percent of total circulation between FY2002 and FY2007. Total circulation of public library materials has grown each year – up to 7.4 items per capita from about 6.8 items in FY2002;
• Most public library Internet services have grown between 2006 and 2008, most notably audio and video content; and
• Total public library operating expenditures have varied little year-to-year and typically align with inflation rates. Staff account for the largest portion of expenditures, followed by “other” expenditures (technology, utilities, programming, etc.) and collections.

The full report is available at http://www.ala.org/ala/research/initiatives/Condition_of_Libraries_1999.20.pdf Individual reports by type of library are available at http://www.ala.org/ala/research/index.cfm.

Denise M. Davis
Director, ALA Office for Research & Statistics
50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611
dmdavis@ala.org | 312-280-4273 | fax 312-280-4392

The Colorado Association of Law Libraries, in conjunction with the Special Libraries Association, Colorado Council of Medical Librarians, Colorado Association of Libraries, and the University of Denver Library and Information Science Program is pleased to present:

Colleague Connection 2010
5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 7, 2010
University of Denver Driscoll Center North Gallery and Ballroom
PANEL DISCUSSION:  Colorado’s 2010 Anti-Tax Ballot Issues : Their Impact on Colorado and its Libraries

Three ballot issues aimed at drastically reducing the taxes and fees required of Colorado’s residents will mean extreme cuts to all tax and fee-funded Colorado institutions if they are passed in November.  Every sector of Colorado’s economy and government will be affected by their passage.  As citizens, librarians need to be aware of the potential effects of their passage on education (K-12 and higher education), businesses, and municipal, county, special district, and state governments. How will corporate, school, academic, and public libraries continue to serve their communities?

Panelists will include members of the library community and political experts who can shed light on these anti-government initiatives and their impact.

Colleague Connection is an annual event sponsored by Colorado library organizations to encourage networking and learning among students, paraprofessional staff, librarians, trustees and friends of libraries. Anyone interested in libraries and the future of libraries is welcomed to attend.

Please forward by e-mail, Facebook or other social networks to anyone who might be interested in attending.

Two people meet in nonfiction and fall in love. A boy finds salvation in his local library and becomes the first in his family to attend college. A suburban mother of four relies on the library’s expert reference service to start her own business, and later is named “Entrepreneur of the Year.”

Come visit the State Library’s booth at the CAL exhibit hall to share YOUR story! You can write it, type it, or tell it (we will have flip cameras). Read fantastic stories of your colleagues and celebrate the many ways libraries transform lives.

Need more reason? Submit YOUR story and become eligible to win one of these fabulous prizes!

• A “flip” digital video camera
• Library stories journals
• A tricked-out messenger bag
• Summer Reading Fun Pack

State Library at CAL schedule (PDF)

The panels focus on five content areas:

• Get rich @ your library lists free resources available at libraries and encourages readers to add up how much they save by using the library’s resources;
• Learn for a lifetime @ your library features the ways that school and public libraries encourage lifelong learning;
• Great mysteries answered @ your library contains fun facts about libraries, including the number of questions answered weekly by reference librarians at our nation’s academic and public libraries;
• Discover the world @ your library positions a library card as a passport to the world; and
• Discover your family tree @ your library encourages readers to go to the library to research their family tree.

Visit the I Love Libraries site for more information.

• * Share with you the latest services and resources we can offer Colorado libraries
• * Hear how libraries have transformed your lives

CSL at CAL 2009 – Schedule (PDF)

As in the past, the Colorado State Library partnered with Colorado Humanities and the Center for the Book to represent Colorado in the Pavilion of the States, where reading and library-promotion programs are highlighted from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. trusts and territories.

The Library of Congress remarked, “Festival-goers can meet and hear from their favorite authors, get books signed, and participate in a variety of reading activities. The popular Let’s Read America Pavilion showcases the cultural treasures to be found in the Library’s vast online collections and offers information about popular Library Programs.”

The featured author from Colorado was Steve Jenkins, a Caldecott honor-winning author who resides in Boulder. The book highlighted for the festival was “Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea,” a top-to-bottom look at the creatures of the ocean.

Help Your Library
By providing data about advocacy, impacts, benefits, and challenges of public access Internet services in public libraries you will help inform and educate stakeholders at the local, state and national levels about the issues and needs your library faces in providing public computer and Internet access services and resources.

Advocacy for Libraries
A particular goal of the 2009 study is to help public libraries develop advocacy strategies for developing sustainable funding sources for public access Internet services and resources.

Bonus–Win a Kindle
Upon completion of the survey, you may register to win an Amazon Kindle.

About the Survey
http://www.plinternetsurvey.org/

Questions
If you have any questions regarding the survey, please e-mail support@plinternetsurvey.org, or call (301) 405-9445.

Anythink(tm) “celebrates imagination, play and interactivity.” In the official Anythink announcement, you’ll note a decidedly strategic absence of the tried-and-tired verbiage and emphasis typical of library press releases. Included is a YouTube-hosted “Anythink Branimation.” Pop on over to the site; this is an innovative and bold direction for Rangeview Library District, well worth watching.

Your participation in the survey is extremely important, and directly impacts the ability of ALA and others to advocate on behalf of public libraries and the tremendous contribution public libraries make to  their communities through their public access Internet services and resources. Data from the study appeared most recently in USA Today in a discussion of how public libraries help job seekers.

The survey is open through November 6, 2009.  You will need an ID number, which you may look up on the website. Questions regarding the survey should be directed to support@plinternetsurvey.org or 301-405-9445.

Additional information:
Funded by the American Library Association and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the survey provides important data regarding public library Internet connectivity, use, funding, and services.  Since 1994, these surveys have been used by the American Library Association and others to inform and educate stakeholders – policymakers, funders, elected officials, supporters, and the media – at the local, state and national levels about the issues and needs your library faces in providing public computer and Internet access services and resources; how library staff and technology resources support community employment, e-government, and education services; the challenges libraries face in funding their services and resources; and the need for libraries, as community anchor institutions, to have access to robust high speed Internet connectivity as part of the recent broadband stimulus component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as the Stimulus Bill.

Links:
-Info about the survey and previous survey results
-The full Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study
-Center for Library & Information Innovation at the University of Maryland

The Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC) invites submissions for presentations at our Spring Workshops in 2010 in the following locations:

Grand Junction, March 1 & 2

Fort Collins, April 8

Pueblo, April 15 & 16

Our annual workshops serve as a fun forum to learn, network, and stimulate discussion about library related topics. The workshop program will include competitively-selected presentations, as well as a small number of invited speakers. Sessions may be either 75 minutes or half day. Topics appropriate for submission to this conference include, but are not limited to the following:

• Technology, including social computing, tools, gaming technologies, open source, etc.
• Library administration
• Services to children, teens, adults, disadvantaged, e.g. programs, booktalks
• Library development – including marketing, fundraising, grant writing
• Reference
• Collaboration between libraries
• Community involvement 
• Academic, school, public library issues
• Intellectual freedom
• Board, volunteers

Please keep in mind the following:

• CLiC staff will review all submitted proposals for their content, timeliness, and relevance and reserves the right to choose and accept proposals based on the criteria.
• CLiC will treat all submissions as suggestions and guideposts.
• Time management issues and reimbursement guidelines generally limit each session (both 75 minute and half day) to two speakers.
• We are seeking programs geared for newcomers to the profession as well as experienced library staff.
• We are interested in sessions for public, school, and academic librarians.
• Presenters may attend the full conference for free and will receive assistance with travel expenses.

Proposal application is available at:  http://tinyurl.com/CLiCSpringWorkshops

The deadline for this call for proposals is October 15, 2009. You will be contacted about the status of your proposal by November 15, 2009.