The Boston Globe article, “Library budget cuts put book borrowing at risk” by Eric Moskowitz, reports that some public libraries in Massachusetts are jeopardizing their certification with the Board of Library Commissioners.
What does this mean?
Without the certification, “libraries would not be eligible for the state grants that round out local library budgets, and their residents would be deprived of the ability to borrow from most other public libraries.” Without the ability to make interlibrary loans, each public library would become its own entity. The problem with this is that libraries are mean to serve the public, and this is best achieved through pooling mass resources like books, audios, and videos.
What does this mean?
Without the certification, “libraries would not be eligible for the state grants that round out local library budgets, and their residents would be deprived of the ability to borrow from most other public libraries.” Without the ability to make interlibrary loans, each public library would become its own entity. The problem with this is that libraries are mean to serve the public, and this is best achieved through pooling mass resources like books, audios, and videos.
One example of this single entity problem is when a library book club selects a book of the month. They are left with few options: to base the book off of if the library has enough copies or to buy your own copy, which defeats the purpose of a library. Without interlibrary loans, this book club may not be possible. Libraries need their certification to receive book loans.
14 out of 348 local libraries in Massachusetts have lost their certification.
How could such a thing happen?
“To be certified, communities must meet multiple standards, including a requirement that they increase library budgets each year by 2.5 percent, compared with the average spent in the three previous years.” In today’s economy these standards seem strict and impossible. How can a library be expected to increase its budget when each year it is cut?
14 out of 348 local libraries in Massachusetts have lost their certification.
How could such a thing happen?
“To be certified, communities must meet multiple standards, including a requirement that they increase library budgets each year by 2.5 percent, compared with the average spent in the three previous years.” In today’s economy these standards seem strict and impossible. How can a library be expected to increase its budget when each year it is cut?
The certification board has realized this problem and has “granted 22 of 26 requests [to keep certification], rejecting only those towns that stripped library funding disproportionately to other departments.” This means that certification and interlibrary loans can continue as long as the town evenly cuts the budget to public services like schools and the fire/police department. So the main answer to this problem is to make sure that the value of the library is a SHOUT out, rather than becoming something overlooked on a bookshelf.
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