The Lancaster County Library System held its annual public meeting on Tuesday evening, January 19, during a year of severe state-level budget cuts. The primary speakers for the evening, Susan Hauer and Terry Kauffman, represented two potentially clashing positions. Hauer serves as Administrator for the System while Kauffman serves as chair of a Libraries Task Force that, among other duties, is currently assessing the efficiency and worth of certain System operations. Nevertheless, both speakers’ remarks stressed a similar initiative: Finding new ways for county libraries to “engage all the resources of our collective communities”—as Hauer put it.
In her “State of the Library System” address, Hauer surveyed the history of the System, dating back to its origin in 1996. Along the way, she made it a point to praise the value of the System’s current office space, “at a terrific reduced commercial rate of six dollars a square foot,” she noted.
NewsLanc later asked Hauer if she would consider eventually relocating the headquarters to County-owned office space as an additional cost saving measure. “We would be very happy to move into space that would save the taxpayers money,” Hauer responded. According to Kauffman, the Task Force has plans to assess the potential of such an arrangement.
Hauer’s speech strongly emphasized the importance of keeping up with the ever-evolving needs of the public, particularly when it comes to technology. Quoting library officials from Chester County, who recently undertook a comprehensive strategic plan, Hauer stated that “one of the clearest messages from the strategic planning process is that technology and changing lifestyles have drastically affected the way library users interact with the library and vice versa.”
Later, in an interview with Hauer, NewsLanc‘s reporter noted that the Lancaster Public Library is uniquely challenged in providing computer use to nearby residents, but without a channel of dedicated funding to correspondingly meet to these specific needs.
In response, Hauer referenced a funding formula used by the Bill Gates Foundation whereby computer donations for a given area are increased according to that area’s level of reduced school lunch eligibility. “That’s something that could be looked at,” Hauer said, “It’s not in the [Library System’s] current internal formula.”
Concluding her speech, Hauer asserted, “…We need to engage all the resources of our collective communities. The new decade holds promise and challenge. Let’s lift our voices and sing a song of harmony for the greater good.”
NewsLanc asked Hauer if restructuring the federated System into a more centralized authority would be a viable option to more effectively “engage all the resources.” On this, Hauer deferred to the Task Force:
“That would be up to folks that are involved in looking at things,” Hauer said, “It could be part of strategic planning to look and analyze everything you’re doing.” Hauer noted that “all options need to be looked at.”
Kauffman, in his address, made clear that the Task Force is indeed considering “all options.” The Task Force chairman sought to supply library directors in attendance with a crucial word of advice: “Don’t fear change.” One change that Kauffman recommended was the lightening of state-level regulations on how libraries can redirect their funds. “If you’re going to cut the funds, cut some of the regulations and let us change things,” Kauffman elaborated.
Kauffman asserted that some neccessary changes could mean requiring certain libraries to share additional resources with those facing more pressing needs. “We have to get over ‘this is mine, this is yours,'” he said, noting that “we’re going to have to figure out what’s better for the whole.”
One change that Kauffman does not expect to take shape is a new referendum for a countywide library tax. In 2005, a proposed .25 mill property tax to generate $7 million for local libraries was placed on the ballot. But, in an off-year election largely populated with older residents voting from their pocketbooks, the measure was defeated at the polls. According to Kauffman, upcoming election years will not be any more favorable: “In my opinion, there’s no chance it would pass in this economy, in this political climate,” Kauffman said, “I think it would be a death wish.”
The Task Force, Kauffman said, plans to present a report to the County Commissioners in June 2010, detailing a number of recommendations to improve the distribution of library services in Lancaster County.
