Recently in Libraries & Museums Category

Source: Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2009

From the press release:
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has issued the Public Libraries Survey (PLS) report for fiscal year 2007. This is the second PLS report released since IMLS was given responsibility for the annual survey, which includes information on population of service areas, service outlets, library collections and services, library staff, and operating revenue and expenditures. New this year IMLS has included trend data (7-10 years) with graphs and maps on selected items. IMLS reports will continue to document these trends during subsequent fiscal years. More than 9,000 libraries were surveyed in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The survey had a 97.6 percent response rate.

Source: Christine Rooney-Browne, Library Review, Vol. 58 no. 5, 2009
(subscription required)

From the abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role public libraries play in times of economic crisis and to highlight the potential impact of recession on the future development of public library services.

Early evidence suggests that public library usage rises as the economy declines. Public library authorities in the UK and USA have reported huge increases in visitor numbers, shifts in societal expectations, and demands for specific "job related" resources and services. Although public libraries have emerged as vital services in times of recession it is perceived that they will be subject to ongoing review over the next few years as governments and local councils attempt to cut public spending.

Source: Emily Silverman, The Bottom Line: Managing Library Finances, Vol. 22 no. 1, 2009
(subscription required)

From the abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to provide suggestions for sustaining effective marketing and fundraising in challenging economic times. This paper discusses and gives examples of marketing and promotion strategies to sustain fundraising. This paper proposes that, in an economic downturn, donors and stakeholders will respond to positive messages rather than tales of woe. The value of this paper is in its suggestions for telling the library's story in ways that encourage financial support.

Source: Josh Hadro, Library Journal, May 7, 2009

The survey is the first to be conducted according to the new job description definitions developed by the ACRL CUPA-HR Position Descriptions of Academic Librarians Task Force formed in 2006.

Source: Emily Sheketoff, American Libraries, Vol. 40 no. 5, May 2009

How libraries can benefit from the 2009 stimulus bill.
See also:
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 101

Source: Norman Oder, Library Journal, April 30, 2009

* Endowment losses, budget pressure
* Materials costs go up anyhow
* One library vice-chancellor position gone

A variety of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) are experiencing or facing budget cuts, and as Charles Bailey, publisher of Digital Scholarship, noted in DigitalKoans (which pointed LJ to most of this), that suggests that other cuts are widespread.

Libraries are freezing open positions, cutting back on travel and other expenses, and, most painfully, implementing or considering cuts in the collections budget, which, even if static, would be strained by rising costs. (See LJ's Periodicals Price Survey, 4/15/09.)

Source: American Association of Law Libraries, April 2009

From the summary:
In mid-March 2009, AALL conducted a survey of law library directors to understand how the current economic crisis is affecting the profession. The survey was intended to help determine how widespread law library staffs have been affected by layoffs, furloughs, reduction of benefits, and/or budget cuts. More than 400 members responded for a 34 percent response rate.
See also:
Examples of what law libraries are doing to cope with the current economic situation

Source: Sandy Smith Brooks, Library Worklife, Volume 6, No. 4, April 2009
(subscription required)

Academic & large public libraries pay better than school or smaller public libraries. Tolland and New London counties have some of the lowest salaries; Hartford and Fairfield counties still have the highest.

There are other positives in the survey results:

* More workers (a majority) now report full-time rather than part-time work - full-time work pays better.

* More workers have benefits and are unionized than in 1998 or 2003 - unionized workers get paid better.

* More workers report supervisory responsibilities - supervisors get paid better.

* More workers (a majority) report having a Bachelors degree or higher. More workers have an MLS degree, and more workers have an LTA certificate - and more education equates to better pay.

Source: American Library Association, April 2009

Library use increases dramatically as economy sags; funding declines.

The importance of libraries in American life continued to grow in 2008--and accelerated dramatically as the national economy sank and people looked for sources of free, effective help in a time of crisis.

A Harris Poll released in September revealed that 68 percent of Americans have a library card, an increase of 5 percent since 2006. In-person visits increased 10 percent in the same period, and 76 percent of Americans had visited their local public library in the year preceding the survey, compared with 66 percent two years ago. Online-visit data were even more remarkable: 41 percent of library card holders visited their library websites in the year before the poll, compared with 24 percent in 2006.

Libraries, an excellent community resource in ordinary times, in extraordinary times become something of a goldmine.
See also:
- HTML version
- Press release

Source: Kirstin Steele, The Bottom Line: Managing Library Finances, Vol. 21 no. 3, 2008
(subscription required)

From the abstract:
The purpose of the paper is to examine how one might proactively trim materials spending.

Provides a viewpoint on how one might proactively trim materials spending.

Faced with a statewide budget reduction of 90 percent, the author found numerous microform and print subscriptions to cancel. Clearly priorities exist, and if we are able to acknowledge and codify them, perhaps we can save money even in years with no budget crisis. A list of central principles and functions might also make weeding and cooperative collection development easier.