libraries

Library officials and supporters made a pitch to the Genesee County Legislature on Monday to protect funding for books, materials and support for the county's six libraries.

Funding has decreased in recent years and as budgets continue to tighten, officials are concerned that one key source of funding is in jeopardy.

"You’re frugal and we are, too," said Anne Engel, director of the Haxton Memorial Library in Oakfield. "We use everything two or three times. But there's a study that shows that for every taxpayer dollar that is put into a library, more than $3 is returned to the economy."

In 2010, county aid to the library system was $57,351, down from $60,370 in 2009.

Libraries are funded through a combination of school taxes, grants and fees and fines as well as county aid.

Library officials spoke to the Public Services Committee, whose members offered no feedback on the request nor was there any pending item up for vote.

Esther Marone explained that prior to 1984, the county provided no aid to libraries, but when the Richmond Memorial Library expanded and began providing more services, its expenses went up. 

Rather than seek funding for just the Richmond library, the county's librarians got together and worked for three years on a plan to present to the legislature to provide aid to all of the local libraries.

Part of the reason, said Diana Wyrwa, executive director of the Richmond Memorial Library, was that some communities in the county have no direct expense for libraries, but residents still use neighboring community libraries, so the aid helps cover the expense of serving those residents.

And the libraries remain popular.

In 2010, there were 472,991 books circulated.

"The new book area always has people hovering around like bees looking for the newest and the greatest releases," Engel said.

Libraries pay a particularly important role for people who can't afford computers and internet access, by not only providing easy access to books and periodicals, but also computers for personal use.

In tough times, funding a library system is particularly important, argued Thomas Bindeman, (pictured above) executive director of the Nioga Library System.

"Whenever there’s an economic downturn, people come to libraries," he said. "When times get tough, we’re used."

When times get tough, library usage goes up, according to Thomas C. Bindeman, executive director of the Nioga Library System, which helps manage six libraries in Genesee County.

Bindeman told the County Legislature's Human Service Commitee today that with increased usage its important to keep the county's share of library funding at its current $60,000 level.

In tough times, people also check out more books. Circulation at the six libraries was up 60,000 in 2008 vs. 2007.

"When economic times get tough use of libraries skyrockets," Bindeman said.

People who are finding it hard to pay for their home internet usage show up at the library more, Bindeman said. They use the computer libraries to handle online banking and to check their e-mail.

Recently the Gilliam-Grant Community Center Board presented information to the Byron-Bergen Public Library Board and to representative of the Towns of Bergen and Byron concerning their current financial situation.  Due to the economic impact on the Gilliam-Grant Community Center's endowment, the Gilliam-Grant Community Center is forced to severely cut their operating budget and reduce overhead costs to preserve their future within the community.  Gilliam-Grant Community Center  inquired whether the Byron-Bergen Public Library and the Towns would consider library consolidation as an option.

 The Library Board is, in concert with Board officials from Bergen and Byron, researching the financial aspects, location possibilities, and public support of options in response to this financial challenge as presented by the Gilliam-Grant Community Center.  Please contact Gilliam-Grant Community Center for further information about their financial situation.

Public forums in Bergen and Byron will be conducted for the residents to
voice their support or concerns will be held at the following locations and times....

Wednesday, June 17th 2009 - 7:00pm at the Byron Town Hall
Thursday, June 18th - 7:00 pm at the Bergen Town Hall

For more information, you can go to either library and pick up an information packet.

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I work at the Byron Bergen Public Library, part time----now here is my opinion.

Keep the library in the village of Bergen. 

So many people enjoy walking to the village library, whether it's summer or winter, it makes no difference.  Where is the sense of taking our village library and moving it out to the boonies?  Not just that...but move our library out there, and it will loose it's identity.  People won't call it the Byron Bergen Public Library any more...  it will become, by nickname, the Gillliam Grant Library, even though we'd be paying rent and not funded by them.   And to move it to the Gilliam Grant will cost the tax payers even more money than to just move some book from the Gilliam Grant Library.  Not all of the Gilliam Grant Library books will be moved, some will be sold and the monies will go back to Byron.  The relationship betewen the two librearies is as such...

The Gilliam Grant Library is a contracting library under the auspices of the Byron Bergen Public Library.  This means that the charter to maintain and provide services for both libraries is held by the Byron Bergen Public Library.  Funds from the towns of Bergen and Byron and from Genesee County are used to pay the operating costs (saleries, rent, books, materials, etc.) of the library located in the Village of Bergen.  A portion of the Byron funds is designated to Gilliam Grant Library to purchase books and materials and provide programs.  Beyond that, the overhead and general operating costs of the contracting library, located at the Gilliam Grant, are included in the Gilliam Grant Library's budget

This is why people of Byron and Bergen NEED to come to these meetings.  They need to hear both sides.  So far, to me, the information packet is one sided... the Gilliam Grant Library's side.  Not once does it mention how the Library benefits from being where it is..... in the Village of Bergen

So people..... PLEASE GET INVOLVED!

Last year, in response to the several successive lead scares resulting from contaminated Chinese products, Congress pushed through the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a 63-page document that, among other things, would lay the ground rules for ensuring that the parents of America never have to fear lead poisoning from children's toys.

Writing for Forbes, Richard Epstein notes that the passage of the bill gained bipartisan support, because what politician would ever want to be on record as voting against "safety" and "lead posioning." In fact, it passed the Senate 89 to three and the House by 424 to one—Ron Paul was the sole vote of dissent in the latter. Epstein writes:

Instead of targeting the known sources of lead contamination, this ill-conceived statute extended coverage to the max by solemnly requiring third-party testing and certification, using only the best in scientific techniques, for all children's products. Just to be on the safe side, these were defined generously to include all products that are "primarily" intended for children 12 years or age and under. Congress gave the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) six months to prepare the needed regulations.

Unfortunately, this exercise in statutory aggrandizement shows that it is far easier for Congress to set public goals than for agencies to implement them. "Primarily" is a necessary weasel word. Remove it, and all products need testing because some infant might just suck on a wet paint brush. But determining which products are primarily directed to children requires a detailed examination of market structure that no small business is able to undertake.

So, when it came to implementing the rules, people suddenly realized that organizations such as Goodwill would have to either prove that all of its second-hand children's products—toys and clothing—were free of lead, or get rid of them. We realized that libraries would have to pay to test all their books or dump their children's collections. Obviously, second-hand clothing stores and community libraries could never afford such advanced testing. So then, they would have to destroy everything!

Yeah, right.

Did anyone honestly believe that libraries would have been forced to destroy all their copies of Curious George because of a failure to comply with overzealous safety regulations pushed through by politicians too scared to say no? No one could have seriously expected this to come to pass. And of course, it didn't. So we found many of the same scaredy-cat politicians who passed this act now lining up at the microphones to decry its enforcement. Of course, they were joined by a host of newcomers who saw a chance to snatch up some healthy PR and prove themselves true representatives of the people.

Enter, Rep. Chris Lee. From his office, released yesterday:

The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a one-year stay of enforcement for testing and certification requirements under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act after a weeks-long effort on the part of Congressman Lee to protect local libraries. On January 9, Congressman Lee brought the issue up on behalf of local libraries in a phone conversation with the Commission’s acting chairman, Nancy A. Nord. When the Commission did not clarify whether local libraries would receive a reprieve, Congressman Lee joined with the American Library Association early last week to help persuade the Commission to protect library collections.

“I am pleased to see that the Commission has recognized the need to re-evaluate regulations that would potentially force libraries to destroy their children’s book collections,” Congressman Lee said. “Though this is good news, our libraries may still be susceptible to these burdensome regulations in one year’s time. Now the Congress and the Commission must go back to the drawing board and work together to protect children’s book collections in Western New York and around the country.”

“Libraries now have a little room to breathe, but this announcement is not an end to this problem,” Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association. “Since we know children’s books are safe, libraries are still asking to be exempt from regulation under this law. We appreciate Congressman Lee’s continued efforts on behalf of our libraries.”

Lee deserves some credit, here, for sure. We should be glad. He did the right thing. He spoke out against the enforcement of this silly act. But he's leaning a little too hard on the savior button here, and isn't that what got us in this mess to begin with. Let's instead take this chance to step back and keep ourselves—read: keep our politicians—from getting too fired up on their sense of self-worth and wind up overreacting again. This isn't about you, Chris Lee, or any of your colleagues. If we're to be completely honest, this isn't about the libraries either. As Walter Olson writes for Forbes, the act was passed "in a frenzy of self-congratulation following last year's overblown panic over Chinese toys with lead paint." Let's not bury it in the same spirit. Let's take our time this time. Olson continues:

The failure here runs deeper. This was not some enactment slipped through in the dead of night: It was one of the most highly publicized pieces of legislation to pass Congress last year.

And yet now it appears precious few lawmakers took the time to check what was in the bill, while precious few in the press (which ran countless let's-pass-a-law articles) cared to raise even the most basic questions about what the law was going to require.

Yes, something's being exposed as systematically defective here. But it's not the contents of our kids' toy chests. It's the way we make public policy.

I couldn't agree more. So shouldn't this be a chance to learn a lesson? When we get "back to the drawing board," as Lee urges, let's make sure everyone is watching the paper instead of ignorantly trumpeting their triumph at the nearest microphone as they had done in round one. Let's not fool ourselves into conflating the two situations here. We need to rectify a big fat policy blunder. Curious George and friends will be fine. We've got some new faces in their now, like you, Chris Lee, so please: do the right thing.