The Government Works...

...in strange but not so mysterious ways. Our Board chairperson and I spent the day today in Topeka talking with as many of our local legislators as possible. In fact, librarians from all over the state were there for the same purpose at the Kansas Library Association's annual legislative day. I traveled there knowing full well that large cuts to state funding for libraries are in the works. Times are truly dire and cuts are in the offing for just about everything the State does this year and, unfortunately, in 2010.

Nevertheless, I tried to impress on our government representatives the importance of libraries in hard economic times. When the economy is bad, people turn to their public library to help fill the gap. Yet ironically, libraries are often among the first places to receive reductions in funding. The Hutchinson Public Library has seen some of this increased use in the past few months. I shared with our elected officials some of our data showing increased circulation of books and DVDs and anecdotes from staff regarding increases in computer use for things like job hunting, resume writing, and applying for assistance.

I also reminded them that while funding cuts might be unavoidable now, they should not forget libraries when the economy, as it hopefully will, turns around. Another part of the information I shared with them was a return on investment summary for the Hutchinson Public Library. The calculator I used to create the summary takes average costs of library materials, factors in cost for equivalent services like research or computers and printing, and facilities like meeting room space. When you add in the tax dollar amounts to support these things, the calculator gives you a dollar amount for the value of all this to the library's users. In the case of the Hutchinson Public Library, the return our community receives for every $1 it invests in the library is $5.67. In my view, that's a good investment any time, but especially when money is tight.

We will see what happens to the state budget in the next few weeks. The library, like most everyone else, will tighten its belt in anticipation of lean times. All of us at the library will also continue to provide the best service we can. Speaker O'Neal, Senator Bruce, and Representative Seiwert were very generous with their time on Thursday, and for that I am very grateful and say, "Thank you!" I do not envy them their task trying to balance the state budget. After my visit though, I was heartened by seeing first hand that those folks we have sent to do this work are looking at the big picture. It is up to us to make sure that they do not forget that institutions like public libraries help keep communities going while we all wait for that big picture to be realized.