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> Mary Larson, Director of the Minneapolis,
> Public Library. It is in response to a previous post by Bob Gustafson.>>>
>
>> I saw your posting and just wanted to correct a few
> pieces of information and add some as well.
> Circulation has, in fact increased at MPL over the
> last two years.
Much of that increaase comes from Hosmer which has
quadrupled it's patronage since the remodel was completed in
October 1997.
> It is true that operating costs will increase as some
> of the library capital projects are completed.
> Increased operating costs will be phased in and, just
> as in any enterprise, choices will be made on the
> levels of service that can be provided....
> > You plan for the future. In this case,
> you improve library buildings that will serve the
> community for many years to come - and you provide
> service as you can afford it.
Improving library buildings is not central to improving the
library. Improving library services is central, improving
outreach, collection, hours, staff, and programming is what
brings people in the doors. Libraries are not, first and
foremost, about books. If your library is not about
people--the populaation of Minneapolis--then your library is
not doing its job.
>
If the public wants them open and wants us to carry
> out our work which has direct and spillover benefit to
> everyone, then they will support us.
This is a huge cop out. Columbus, Ohio, a city of about the
same size as Minneapolis, has a budget of $42 million per
year or $175.00 per member of the population. Minneapolis
has $16 million per year or $32.00 per member of the
population. In the face of rising needs, MPL has not been
aggressive in going after the funding required to serve our
population.
> Point Five:
>> Finally, the $100,000 plus that Hosmer received from
> its surrounding neighborhoods was great. Many people
> played a part in that including Roy Woodstrom, the
> Community Librarian at Hosmer. However, it is not an
> annual amount. It was a one time amount but it helped
> start up the Technology Center, pay for books and
> other materials, and provided programs for children
> and families.
I take particular issue with Mary Lawson on this subject.
To date, the neighborhoods around Hosmer Library have
contributed $470,000 to enhance the collection and
programming at Hosmer. Here are the contributions to Hosmer:
$50,000--Bryant Neighborhood for the Tech Center;
$118,000--Central Neighborhood for the Tech Center
(including wages for a teacher for 3 years);
$43,000--Central Neighborhood for Youth and Family
Development materials and programs; $25,000--Kingfield
Neighborhood for the Tech Center and another $10,000 for
collection enhancement and programming; $152,000 Powderhorn
Neighborhood for programming, computers, tutors, and
collection; $32,000 from Green Central Weed & Seed for
summer programming for kids and Bucks for Brins;
$9,500--Lyndale Neighborhood for programming;
$5,000--Bancroft Neighborhood (use as yet undetermined);
there is another $25,500 that I can't recall the source of
at the moment in these figures.
It takes about $150,000 over the library's budgeted amount
to keep Hosmer going at it's present usage, collection, and
programming (125,000/year patrons to the library and another
14,000 patrons for the tech center). Management has also
forbidden Hosmer to write grants to 1. Gates Foundation for
$350,000; 2. Department of Education for 3 years $700,000;
and $5 million to Hewlett Packard.
I resent Mary Lawson downplaying the work of Roy Woodstrom
and me to raise this money and I'm one unhappy camper that
she forbade Hosmer to raise other monies to keep Hosmer
going at it's present level of service or to enhance it's
staff and service hours. Hosmer is open 60 fewer hours/month
than some other libraries, even though Hosmer has shown a
tremendous growth in patronage during the years following
the remodeling.
Before remodeling, Hosmer had 30,000 patrons/year, a
collectionn so neglected that, when Roy Woodstrom came to
Hosmer, it still had books saying that Batista was the
leader in Cuba (1995). Hosmer staff, while fabulous, is
being neglected by library management. When the staff is
inadequate to the task, patrons are short-changed and Hosmer
does not have the sataff its usage warrants.
As each community library is remodeled, there will be rising
expectations from the neighborhoods around it. Each of them
will probably need, as Hosmer does, another $150,000/annum
over the present budget to have staff, hours, collection,
and programming to meet the needs of patrons.
There is a time to be frugal and there is a time to earn
money to improve the library. This is the dawn of the
Information Age and MPL is not thinking enough about the
consequences or moving in a direction to prepare for those
consequences.
Wizard Marks
Candidate for Library Board
>
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