Idaho Librarian

The State We’re In:

Idaho’s Libraries and the Economic Recession

Leonard Hitchcock

 Because of the economic slowdown that has occurred in Idaho over the past few years, the Idaho Librarian thought it would be worthwhile to report on how the state’s libraries have been faring.  We sent email questionnaires to all the public libraries, school libraries and academic libraries at state-assisted institutions, inquiring about a variety of matters, all connected with funding.  We also contacted the Idaho State Library and its regional consultants, and the State Archivist.

 Responses were received from 34 public libraries, 13 school libraries, five academic libraries, the State Library, the State Archivist and the two currently-existing regional consultants.  Below is a summary of the reports submitted to us, presented by library type.

 PUBLIC LIBRARIES

 We received responses from 11 district, 20 city and 2 county libraries, and they brought reports from every region of the state.  On the whole, it would seem that the public libraries are holding their own in terms of overall funding: 12 indicated that funding this year was about the same as last; 15 reported slight increases in funding, and only 6 reported decreases in funding.  As a result, only 3 libraries were forced to resort to reducing staff, though 8 indicated that their collections had suffered to some degree.  Of course, the library dollar buys slightly less every year, at least for traditional materials like books and magazines, so even libraries that experience up to 3% increases in funding are barely managing to buy the same number of items as in years past.  And other costs – heating, power, postage, communications, materials – continue to rise, cutting into the monies available for library expenditures per se.

 Moreover, it must be noted that a great many of the public libraries in this state have been consistently under-funded, so “holding their own” doesn’t mean that they are able to provide the collections and services that they believe their patrons need and deserve.  One small library, apparently trying to look on the bright side, reported that it was already a “low budget” operation and, since its region of the state hadn’t “boomed” in the nineties, things hadn’t really gotten any worse in recent years.

 In a few cases, regional economic conditions were reported to have had a direct effect upon library funding, both for better and for worse.  The fortunes of several north Idaho libraries have declined along with the mining and logging businesses in their areas.  Other cities – Boise and towns in its vicinity, Rexburg, Victor – are growing in population and tax base, so the flow of money to their libraries has increased or at least not diminished.   

 Though staffing losses were rare, a number of respondent libraries mentioned that an increasing load of work had resulted in some slowing of functions, especially processing of materials acquired.  Also, despite donations and grant funding, computer technology seems to be absorbing an increasing portion of library funds.

 Nine libraries reported that they were attempting to raise more money on their own in order to cope with the current situation; some have raised fees, some have scheduled more fund raising events, some have appealed to Friends groups and other donors for increased support.  However, as at least one library observed, in less prosperous times donations often slack off noticeably.  

 Concerning their view of the financial future, 10 of the libraries felt that their libraries’ funding would remain about as it is in the current fiscal year; 10 thought that funding would increase, if only modestly, and 12 anticipated some reduction in funding (and two didn't offer a view).  Despite this predominance of less than rosy predictions, librarians who reported to us almost uniformly refrained from complaining or bemoaning their condition.  They tended to convey the idea that they would be able to tough out the bad times and continue to provide adequate, if not optimal service, to their patrons.  At the same time, as one of the regional consultants observed, while Idaho's librarians are “very good at ‘making do,’” that aptitude “can be a two-edged sword.”   After years of inadequate funding, a library tends to settle for less; its dreams grow dim over time as hope diminishes.

 SCHOOL LIBRARIES

 We received responses from 13 school libraries, most of them in high school, junior highs or middle schools.  School libraries are, of course, situated within several larger bureaucracies: the school itself, the school district, and the State Board of Education.  Funding filters down to the library according to decisions made at higher levels.  Consequently, a library may or may not be affected when funding to the larger units waxes and wanes.  Of those libraries that reported to us, 6 indicated that their funding had decreased, and 7 that it had remained roughly the same.  None reported increased funding.  Five school librarians reported losses in staffing – in most cases these were support (aides) and technical staff rather than professionals.  A decrease in funding for the collection was reported by one librarian, and attributed to local economic conditions, specifically the decline of the logging industry. 

 Unwise as it may be to generalize on the basis of relatively few responses, it seems to be the case that Idaho schools, and the libraries within them, are under considerable stress.  As in the case of many public libraries, years of under-funding and static allocations have left school libraries with no alternative but to doggedly “get by.”  Larry Goold, a librarian in District 25, tells me that the library materials allocation per student within his district has remained the same for ten years.  One of the high school librarians that responded to our questionnaire said that her budget had been the same since 1990.  The only bright spot in this picture seems to be the LiLI databases, which have dramatically boosted information access for Idaho’s students and helped to partially counteract the stagnation of school library funding.

 ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

 The state-assisted institutions of higher education in Idaho experienced a pronounced decline in the level of that assistance during the current and previous fiscal years.  First, there was a budget hold-back of 3% in FY2002, then a cutback of roughly 10% for FY2003.  Moreover, for several years there had been special legislative allocations to libraries to help them deal with inflationary increases for books and journals.  Those allocations ceased in 2002.  Within the budgets of the universities and colleges, allocations for libraries tended to reflect the overall institutional cuts.  As a result, libraries at the University of Idaho, Boise State University, Idaho State University and Lewis-Clark State College have all been forced to find ways to reduce expenditures.  The only academic library apparently unaffected by cutbacks is the College of Southern Idaho. 

University of Idaho

 Staffing at the University of Idaho library has been reduced by 5 FTE: 2 faculty positions and 3 classified.  Fortunately, the faculty positions were vacated through retirement, and the classified positions through voluntary departure.  There has been some, though not an overwhelming, increase in workload for the remaining staff.  Internal reassignments have helped to reduce the impact.  At the same time, there are other negative effects, such as a decline in staff morale, in part because, as positions are lost, there are fewer opportunities for promotion.  In addition, the Dean of Libraries, Ron Force, takes note of an often-overlooked consequence, “the lack of stimulation and new ideas that ‘new faces’ bring.”

 The University of Idaho library has not been forced to cut funding for its collections.  In part, this is due to the university providing the extra funding needed to cover inflationary increases in the cost of library materials.  There have been minor reductions in reference service hours and open hours.  Efforts are being made to increase non-appropriated income, through a proposal to receive a share of research overhead payments, and through grant funding from the EPSCoR program (a federal program to assist smaller universities in initiating and sustaining research activities).

 In the absence of the tax increase and library inflation funding proposed by the Governor, Dean Force anticipates that his library will experience further reductions in staffing and patron services.  He does not expect that there will be an effect upon the collection.

 Boise State University

 Staff losses at the BSU library have totaled 0.74 FTE; the library eliminated a vacant classified and a vacant librarian position and used the funds saved to make up for other losses in irregular and student help.  There has been a resulting increase in workload for remaining staff. 

 The collection has suffered.  One hundred and fifty-one serial subscriptions have been cancelled, in order to save approximately $43,000.  Monographs, too, have been affected; the monograph budget was cut by $17,000.  University Librarian Tim Brown observes that if the university administration had not required only relatively small cuts in the library's budget, in an effort to compensate for the lack of state-supplied inflationary monies, the collection cuts would have been far greater.

 Library hours have been reduced by nine hours per week.  The processing of materials by technical services – cataloging of new materials, receipt and processing of gifts – has been slowed, in part because of staff reductions, and in part because of a diversion of staff-time to deal with the review and cancellation of serials.

 Without the additional funding proposed by the Governor, Mr. Brown anticipates that the library’s collection will suffer more, but that further cutbacks in staff and services will not be required.

 Lewis-Clark State College

 Paul Krause, Director of the Lewis-Clark library, reports that he has lost 1.63 FTE staff, including a full-time librarian and student assistants.  There has been a serious impact upon the remaining staff in increased workload and a slow-down in the cataloging of new materials.  Travel monies for staff development purposes have been cut in half. 

 The collection has been seriously damaged.  One hundred and twenty-two journals have been cancelled, but this has resulted in no actual dollar savings due to inflation and increased costs associated with the remaining titles.  Book purchases have been reduced by 39%.  

 The library has been forced to reduce reference services and library hours.  It has attempted to compensate for reduced funding by soliciting more grants and donations.

 Assessing his library’s prospects for FY04 without increased state funding, Mr. Krause says that it “…will continue to lose a percentage of quality in terms of its information support for the curriculum and campus.”  However, because of the substantial reductions effected this year, he does not anticipate further cuts in staff, collections or services.

 Idaho State University

 The library at ISU has dealt with its cutbacks primarily through staff reductions and the expenditure of reserve funds.  Three FTE positions were lost, 1.5 professional and 1.5 classified, all through voluntary departures.  The workload increase for remaining staff, despite efforts at improving efficiency, has been significant.  Travel monies have been reduced by 10%.  Services have been somewhat affected insofar as library hours and reference desk hours have been slightly reduced.  

 Some of the subject-area collection allocations have been reduced, primarily those for internal library units, but also the allocation for the “general collection,” which is designed to support undergraduate and community information needs.  ISU has been forced to draw heavily upon its reserve funds in order to retain all its journal subscriptions.  In anticipation of the exhaustion of those funds, and the likelihood of little increase in state funding, it has set in motion an overall 3% reduction in both journal and monograph expenditures for FY04.

 If the legislature fails to provide stronger support for ISU and its library, University Librarian Kay Flowers expects that there will be further cuts in staff and collections, and, very probably, a decrease in library services.  As she succinctly puts it, “Things look pretty grim.”  

College of Southern Idaho 

 The library at the College of Southern Idaho seems to have fared better than its colleagues over the past year.  The Director, William Beale, reports that it has not been necessary to reduce staff or collection-building activities, and there has been no negative impact upon service to patrons.  Neither does it appear to the director that cuts in staff, collections or services will be called for in the coming fiscal year.  At the same time, in response to a question concerning the effects of non-approval of the governor’s recommendation for increases in funding to counteract inflation, Mr. Beale remarks that such funding, if granted, “…would help us to keep from slipping back in the quality of collections and services to a constantly growing body of students.”  Community colleges in Idaho, it should be noted, are able to generate funds from their districts, and hence are not as dependent upon state funding as are the larger, four-year institutions.

 STATE LIBRARY

 The State Library has taken an especially hard hit from the legislature.  It has experienced a 19.34% cut in funding from last fiscal year, which translates into a dollar amount of about $570,000.   This has resulted in the loss of 5 FTE staff, 2 of whom were professional.  Three of the positions were vacated due to resignations, 2 by termination.

 The materials budget was completely eliminated by the legislature.  Consequently, the State Library has reduced its monograph collection by two-thirds, its print serials by seventy-five percent, and transferred its video collection to the Boise Public School District.  The library’s Government Information Center has been eliminated.  It continues, however, to maintain its Talking Book Library. A consequence of the decimation of the collection has been a lessening of demand for interlibrary loan and reference services from state employees and agencies, and that, ironically, has helped the library to cope with the loss of staff.

 The drastic reduction in funding has necessitated a change in the mission of the State Library.  In the words of Charles Bolles, the State Librarian, the State Library no longer “promotes, provides and delivers library services to the people of Idaho,” instead it “assists libraries to build the capacity to better serve their clientele.”  In other words, the State Library is now focusing on library development, including statewide networking and resource sharing.

 The prospects for the coming fiscal year are not good.  The continued absence of a materials and equipment budget would result in seriously reduced service capacity.  What form that would take would depend, in part, on what equipment failed and when.

If there are further cuts, there will be further loss of personnel and an additional reduction in services.  If, on the other hand, the legislature were to fund the inflationary increases that the Governor has recommended, the library could avoid a further erosion of its situation.  Mr. Bolles reports that, in spite of the cutbacks, the State Library staff has “accepted the challenges that reduced funding and reorganization have caused, in the spirit of continuous improvement, and are looking forward to continuing to serve Idaho’s libraries and general population.” 

 IDAHO STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

 The State Historical Society, which includes the Historical Library and State Archives, has experienced a cut in funding even more substantial, percentage-wise, than the State Library, viz. 19.5%.  All aspects of the operation of the Society have been impacted:  there has been a one-year suspension of ISHS coordination of History Day activities; publication of the society’s journal, Idaho History, has been indefinitely suspended; the Capitol Education Center and its tour and information programs have been closed; funds for maintenance of 59 historic buildings have been eliminated; the hours of operation of the Historical Museum have been reduced from every day to Tuesday through Saturday, and 4 full-time and 3 part-time employees have been laid off. 

 Moreover, all funds for collection development and replacement and purchase of equipment by the Historical Library and State Archives have been eliminated.  Hours of operation have been further reduced to Wednesday through Saturday.  Several temporary, limited-service positions have been lost.  

 And, to put these cut-backs into perspective, the Idaho Historical Library and State Archives were operating, before the cuts, with one of the lowest budgets in the nation when compared to agencies with similar responsibilities.

 The Governor has proposed a 15% increase in funding for the Idaho State Historical Society.  Unfortunately, the fine print of the proposal reveals that almost all that increase will go to fund a grant program coordinated by the Governor’s Idaho Lewis and Clark Trail Committee for work along the trail in preparation for the bicentennial commemoration.  There will be no effect upon the base budget for the Historical Society.