[Publib] Budget cuts - hours vs. materials

[Linda Cannon]

I'd always cut hours over materials if it's an either/or. Some states have standards about percentages of budget spent on materials, and it's unwise to drop below that, IMHO. Even without standards, considering that most libraries spend the largest (by far) portion of their budget on personnel already, making that a larger percentage (to keep the building open more hours) while decreasing the percentage spent on materials is, I think, a bad plan. (Note my job title--I may be biased).
 
A judicious trimming of hours to keep the library available as much as possible (cutting from both ends rathe than eliminating evening hours, for example) and losing staff (one hopes by attrition) is, I think, the better option. Or a bit of each. Cutting the materials budget alone is (again, my 2¢ worth) a bad idea. You can always add hours back if/when things improve and add staff back. If you let a collection slide for long, it takes a long while to get a decent collection again.
 
If folks want to come to the library, they'll adjust the schedule they visit on (assuming reasonable hours). If they come and don't find current and/or popular materials to check out, they'll stop coming and may never come back.
 
Again, just my 2¢
 
Linda Cannon
Collection Development Librarian
Joplin Public Library
 
 

________________________________

From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Tiar, Marc
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 1:35 PM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Publib] Budget cuts - hours vs. materials



Hello out there,

 

I'm a new subscriber to the list, having just joined to post this question (although I was a subscriber many years ago).  In these tough economic times, we're having to make some difficult choices.  We are trying to find any data, anecdotal or otherwise, to support or refute a decision one way or another.   We have been searching the literature but not doing too well - it's sort of a tough concept to put into search terms, due both to such common words and the many synonyms of them that appear in the journals. 

 

Put briefly, is it better to cut hours/days of operation or acquisitions?

 

Or, the way it was phrased to us to look into:

 

Washoe County Library has been asked to consider cutting deeply into its Library Materials budget in order to fill personnel vacancies, which might allow some library branches to expand public hours. If you cut deeply into your materials budget, did your circulation and/or visitor statistics decrease?  By maintaining or increasing public hours, despite cutting your materials budget, did your circulation and/or visitor statistics increase?

 

Many thanks for any information you can share.

 

Marc Tiar

Washoe County Library

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