I decided to see what I could find out there that might indicate if Minneapolis is a piker in spending on the library. Here's a quote from the Friends of the St Paul Library:
"Saint Paul trails other Twin Cities library systems in funding for library materials. Minneapolis allocates over a dollar and a half more per capita for library books and materials than Saint Paul. With per capita spending at $4.92, Saint Paul lags far behind Minneapolis ($6.57) as well as suburban Hennepin County ($5.93) and suburban Ramsey County ($5.41). Only 81 percent of the Saint Paul�s collection budget, or $3.97 per capita, comes from the City�s budget. Suburban Hennepin and suburban Ramsey County fund almost all of their collection budgets with public monies." http://www.merriam-park.org/POST/nov00/library.html Looks from this quote like Minneapolis leads its neighbors. I checked the ALA website and found nothing that would support the idea that MPL spends less than its peers. But if that data does exist in the cited sources, someone who makes the claim SHOULD be able to provide data. Library BOARD members should be able to demonstrate it without even consulting the sources. So, board members, what IS our position in spending. I doubt it is that of the pauper among medium-sized cities. I checked the Library Board's 3-year-comparison (2001-2003) I see that 2003 had a reduction in personnel costs. So the staff is already taking a whack. But I see something like a 30-40 percent increase from 2002 to 2003 in the category "Buildings/Furniture/Equipment". Anybody know what that's about? I see that in 2003 the library spent LESS on books while raising the above category several hundreds of thousands of dollars? Isn't that somehow backward? The library is not about BUILDINGS after all. Hard to say if the MPL is some kind of sink of waste and inefficiency. Could be, I suppose, since that isn't the part of the government where I worked. But to make the case might require some actual cases. Are the staffing levels what they should be? Are there more people than are really needed? Have we provided automation to replace staff hours without making adjustment in the staffing to get the savings? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> So if bikes aren't BANNED on Lake Street, that doesn't mean they will be USED on Lake Street? Someone should tell me why it would MATTER if bikes are banned on Lake Street? I mean, if bike riders have the good sense to stay off Lake Street, why should they worry if they are banned? And also, what "ban" really works anyway? Anyone know of one? As for the notion that nothing discourages cars from using any street, then why spend MILLIONS trying to make Lake Street more "friendly" for cars? Why bother with an access to the freeway? I've assumed all along that someone thinks Lake Street is too hard to use, that cars stay away, that therefore for the sake of development, we have to blow mountains of scarce cash to lure the cars. Yet, people on this very discussion list claim cars can never be discourage and never have been. Does that mean we can just cancel the Access project and use money where it matters? Or does it mean we have polemicists here who will exaggerate just for the fun of it? __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
