Free use of the Smyrna Public Library is a tradition life-long residents should be very proud of, and new-comers should cherish. Originally established in 1858 as a private service, it became a public free-use library in 1940, supported largely by the Town. I believe that the proposed cuts to the Library budget for the coming fiscal year will be a mortal wound, from which our Library will not recover. I believe elected officials voicing a lack of support for the library would receive indignant tirades from every sector of their constituency. The outcry from our community would be long and loud. However, by quietly pounding away at the annual operating budget of our Town Library, Council has brought our Library to the brink of extinction.
As a municipal library, the majority of the annual budget is provided by the Town of Smyrna. Support from the Delaware Department of State provides approximately 15% of the library's annual budget. Kent County provides funds from residents' library tax each time a member from outside town limits borrows a book, though currently Kent County provides no additional support for other library services (computer access, children's programs, capital projects, etc.). Kent County provided $30,000 last quarter through this reciprocal borrowing payment to the town's general fund, money that the town does not earmark for library use.
Despite enormous increases in use, the Town plans to cut the library operating budget. The library completed 51,000 transactions in 2008, and hosted 82,000 visitors – up 32 and 4%, respectively, in just one year. The library's summer reading program attracted 384 participants this year; library staff and volunteers now see 300 visitors on a typical day.
Records indicate more than 12,000 visitors used the computer library resources in the past year. Increased use is not simply a blip on the radar. Library visitors have increased six-fold since 2002, but the town's funding of the library has only doubled since that time, without inflation adjustments. Last year saw flat funding in the town's portion of the library's operating budget. This year, the Town Finance Committee is requesting that the library budget be cut 10%, including the elimination of all of the $14,000 for new books.
State funds for the town library are threatened. According to one state official, "You can have a collection of books in your closet and call it a library, but that doesn't mean the state has to fund it." The state suggests a library that handles the volume of traffic seen at the Town of Smyrna Library employ 12 people. Currently, the library maintains 2 full time and 4 part time positions, limiting the hours the library can operate. A library with no weekend hours and no evening hours is seen as "limited access" and will lose state funds. Woefully understaffed and chronically underfunded by our town, our library has already lost and will continue to lose state money so desperately needed to maintain the current services.
The proposal on the table is to zero-out funds for new book purchases in the coming year. Aside from the obvious concern about providing citizens with a current collection, this will decrease the contribution from Kent County to our town. New books are most commonly requested and provided to county residents, bringing County Library Tax dollars into Smyrna's general fund.
Impacts of these budget changes are real. Last year our library was forced to close its doors on weekends, and can only remain open one weeknight. Necessary repairs to dry the basement have been delayed and remain unfunded. Nowhere in the town's budgeting process is public service by the library considered. Door counts and circulation numbers are not reflected in the funds supporting the library. The only conclusion that I am able to draw from these cuts is that the Town Finance Committee does not, in fact, support the idea of a municipal library and deems it unnecessary.
Cutting funds for the library is short-sighted, reduces what is an essential service for many people in this town, and costs the town money through lost state and county contributions. The tough discussions about what are necessary services in the town's FY2010 budget are going on now. Contact the Mayor and Council if you agree that our library is essential to our community. Let them know what your library means to you, and that your tax dollars are well spent on the services the library provides. Be civil, be respectful, and make your wishes known.
