All Hail the PUBLIC Library
The public library is a uniquely American creation. Now we
have to fight to keep it public..

By David Morris

On the Commons

May 1, 2011

http://www.onthecommons.org/all-hail-public-library

"The word 'public' has been removed from the name of the
Fort Worth Library.
Why? Simply put, to keep up with the times."
From the Media release on the rebranding of the Fort Worth
Library

Fort Worth, you leave me speechless. You're certainly
correct about one thing. The public library is indeed an
institution that has not kept up with the times. But given
what has happened to our times, why do you see that as
unhealthy? In an age of greed and selfishness, the public
library stands as an enduring monument to the values of
cooperation and sharing. In an age where global corporations
stride the earth, the public library remains firmly rooted
in the local community. In an age of widespread cynicism and
distrust of government, the 100 percent tax supported public
library has virtually unanimous and enthusiastic support.

This is not the time to take the word "public" out of the
public library. It is time to put it in capitals.

The public library is a singularly American invention.
Europeans had subscription libraries for 100 years before
the United States was born. But on a chilly day in April
1833 the good citizens of Peterborough, New Hampshire
created a radical new concept - a truly PUBLIC library. All
town residents, regardless of income, had the right to
freely share the community's stored knowledge. Their only
obligation was to return the information on time and in good
condition, allowing others to exercise that same right.

By the 1870s 11 states boasted 188 public libraries. By 1910
all states had them. Today 9,000 central buildings plus
about 7500 branches have made public libraries one of the
most ubiquitous of all American institutions, exceeding
Starbucks and McDonalds.

Almost two thirds of us carry library cards. At least once a
year, about half of us visit a public library, many more
than once. Library use varies by class and race and by age
and educational level. But the majority of blacks and
Latinos as well as whites, old as well as young, poor as
well as rich, high school dropouts as well as university
graduates, use the public library.

What Makes The Public Library Special?

When we think of libraries, we think of books and rightly
so, for public libraries are by far our largest bookstores
and a majority of the 2.5 billion items checked out are
still books. Indeed, for every two books sold in America,
one book is borrowed from the public library.

But libraries are much more than bookstores. About 30
percent of the people who visit libraries do not borrow
books or DVDs. For a greater number of people than we might
care to believe, the library serves as a warm and dry
sanctuary, a place they can sit without fear of being
bothered. For others, it is a refuge from loneliness, a
place full of hustle and bustle, where they can attend a
concert, or hear a lecture or read a magazine free of
charge.

Since its inception the American public library's prime
directive has been to protect the public's access to
information. In 1894, the right to know led Denver's public
library to pioneer the concept of open stacks. For the first
time patrons had the freedom to browse. In the 1930s, the
right to know led Kentucky's librarians to ride pack horses
and mules with saddle-bags filled with books into remote
sections of the state.

In 1872, the right to know led the Worcester Massachusetts
Public Library to open its doors on Sunday. Many viewed that
as sacrilege. Head librarian Samuel Green calmly responded
that a library intended to serve the public could do so only
if it were accessible when the public could use it. Six day,
60-hour workweeks meant that if libraries were to serve the
majority of the community they must be open on Sundays.
Referring to those who might not spend their Sundays at
worship Green impishly added, "If they are not going to save
their souls in the church they should improve their minds in
the library."

More than 125 years later Sundays remain the busiest day of
the week for public libraries and Sunday closings are the
first sign of fiscal distress.

By 1935 public libraries were serving 60 percent of the
population. They had so proven their value that not a single
library closed its doors during the Great Depression! To
keep their doors open, the Cleveland public library
sponsored "overdue weeks", encouraging patrons who could
afford it to keep their library books until they were
overdue, allowing the library to collect the 12 cents per
week fine. In a time of soup lines and economic destitution,
the library was known as the "bread line of the spirit".

Its mission of protecting our access to information has
often led the public library to confront authorities that
would obstruct that access.

In 1953 at the height of McCarthism, when magazine like the
Nation were banned in many places and William Faulkner's
novels were seized as pornographic literature, the American
Library Association (ALA) adopted a Library Bill of Rights.
"The freedom to read is of little consequence when expended
on the trivia," it insisted, "Ideas can be
dangerous...Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but
it is ours."

In the 1980s and 1990s, when the federal government began
giving taxpayer-financed data to private companies who then
copyrighted the information and charged higher prices for
access, the library community expressed its displeasure.
Then ALA President Patricia Shuman declared, "privatization
has resulted in less access and higher cost for the America
public. If we accept the commodization of information...we
will diminish the public's right to know."

Just as fiercely as public librarians fight to protect our
access to information they fight to protect our personal
information from prying eyes. In the 1980s when the FBI
tried to turn librarians into spies by asking them to
identify those who checked out military or subversive books
or who simply fit the terrorist profile Americans librarians
firmly rejected the request.

Sometimes protecting the people's right to information means
not only confronting the authority of government but of
parents. A few years ago the Director of the Elkhart Indiana
Public Library explained, "Sometimes a parent will get angry
at a book a kid has brought home. And the parent will bring
in the kid's card and tell us he's returning it. We mail the
card back to the child. It's his card. The child can return
it, but no one can return it for the child."

Libraries make citizens of us all.

Of us all. This month the Queens Public Library, located in
one of the most ethnically diverse and immigrant rich
communities in the world---its web site and phone answering
system are in six languages - will begin allowing the
"matricula consular" - a personal identification card issued
to immigrants by their consulates - to be used as a valid
document to obtain a library card.

"At Queens Library, we strive to make our collections and
services available to all," said Maureen O'Connor, director
of programs and services for the Queens Library. They've
succeeded admirably. The Queens Library has the highest
circulation rate of any public library system in the
country.

The Best Deal In Town

Despite the enormous popularity and widespread use of public
libraries have rarely been well funded. Robert Reagan, then
Public Information Director of the City of Los Angeles
Public Library offers one reason, "Everybody loves
libraries, but mostly they are mute about it." "(L)ibraries
are plagued by the image that we are nice, but not
essential" one librarian complained to the Washington Post.
People will defend their libraries, but only when the lights
are about to go out.

And the lights are beginning to go out. U.S. mayors report
that library budgets are one of the first items on the
chopping block now. Some 19 states cut funding for public
libraries last year. More than half of the reductions were
greater than 10 percent. Those cuts compound an often
overlooked fact of life for public libraries. Operating
costs are going up - electricity, maintenance, materials.
The result is that even when operating budgets remain
constant something has to give - fewer books or computers or
fewer hours.

These budget cuts are coming just as library use soars.
Economic hard times encourages people to borrow DVDs and
books and newspapers rather than buy them and use computer
terminals for job searches. Library usage is increasing by
15-30 percent while at the same time their budgets are being
cut by 10-15 percent.

This is truly a case of penny wise and pound foolish. By any
cost-benefit calculus, dollars spent on public libraries are
a wise investment. The public library offers concrete
empirical evidence that sharing is the least expensive and
most satisfying way we can improve our quality of life.

A few years ago, the Windsor, Connecticut Public Library
hosted an Open House bluntly named, "I Got My Money's Worth
at the Windsor Public Library". At that time for about $26
per person per year, Windsor residents could borrow from
more than $7 million worth of resources, including books,
records, tapes, compact discs and videos but not including
the much larger treasure trove of materials available
through inter-library loan, another 19th century American
innovation. And if someone could not get to the library,
Windsor's librarians, like those everywhere in the country,
would graciously and expeditiously answer their research
questions over the phone.

Today the per capita cost of the library has increased to
$36 a year although the rate of increase has been much lower
than inflation. Meanwhile, the information and resources
available have soared dramatically. Over 80 percent of all
public libraries now have publicly available computers. They
have supplemented their print media with free on-line access
either on-site or from their patron's homes to thousands of
newspapers and journals and reference materials. And today
most librarians will answer questions not only in person and
by phone but also via email. Last year they collectively
answered about 300 million questions.

In 2010 the Chicago affiliate of FOX TV News aired a
segment, Are Libraries Necessary, or a Waste of Tax Money?
Because it was FOX you already know the narrative. "They eat
up millions of your hard earned tax dollars. It's money that
could be used to keep your child's school running. So with
the internet and e-books, do we really need millions for
libraries?... should these institutions -- that date back to
1900 B.C. -- be on the way out?...keeping libraries running
costs big money...That's money that could go elsewhere -
like for schools, the CTA, police or pensions."

Mary A. Dempsey, the head of the Chicago Public Library
System delivered a classic librarian's response - fact-
filled, to-the-point and devastatingly effective:

    Let me speak about the Chicago Public Library which
    serves 12 million visitors per year. No other cultural,
    educational, entertainment or athletic organization in
    Chicago can make that claim.

    The Chicago Public Library, through its 74 locations,
    serves every neighborhood of our city, is open 7 days
    per week at its three largest locations, 6 days per week
    at 71 branch libraries and 24/7 on its website which is
    filled with online research collections, downloadable
    content, reference help, and access to vast arrays of
    the Library's holdings and information.

    Last year, Chicagoans checked out nearly 10 million
    items...

    The Chicago Public Library provided 3.8 million free one
    hour Internet sessions to the people of Chicago in 2009.
    The Internet has made public libraries more relevant,
    not less as your story suggests. There continues to
    exist in this country a vast digital divide. It exists
    along lines of race and class and is only bridged
    consistently and equitably through the free access
    provided by the Chicago Public Library and all public
    libraries in this nation. Some 60 percent of the
    individuals who use public computers a Chicago's
    libraries are searching for and applying for jobs.

    Chicago's schools offer the shortest school day in the
    nation. As schools slash their budgets for school
    libraries and shorten their classroom teaching time,
    thousands of children flock to Chicago's public
    libraries every day after school, in the evening and on
    weekends for homework assistance from our librarians and
    certified teachers hired by the public library.

Only recently have public libraries used economics to
justify their existence. The results are consistently eye
opening. A study of Wisconsin's libraries estimated a $4
benefit for each $1 of taxpayer money. A Vermont study found
more than a $5 benefit for each $1 of taxpayer money;
Indiana found a benefit of a $2.38; Florida found a benefit
of $6.54 for each dollar of taxpayer money. Or to look at
the benefit-cost equation from the other side, for every $1
states or cities cut from their library budgets, their
households and businesses spend $2.38 to $6.54 out of their
own pockets.

Consider the case of Philadelphia. In 2010 the city spent
$33 million on its public libraries and received another $12
million from other sources. That same year the Fels
Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania
undertook a detailed analysis of the economic impact of the
public library. Among other things, it found that within 1/4
mile of a one of Philadelphia's 54 branches the value of a
home rose by $9,630. Overall, Philadelphia's public
libraries added $698 million to home values that in turn
generated an additional $18.5 million in property taxes to
the City and School District each year.

That benefit alone recouped more than half of the city's
investment.

Add to that the value of 6.5 million items borrowed each
year, a value Fels calculated at more $100 million.

Add the value of the 3.2 million reference questions
answered, the 1.2 million times people used computer
terminals to access information outside the library and the
millions of times people read materials inside the library
but did not borrow them.

Add the value of the lessons in computer literacy and
English as a second language of after school tutoring.

And then add the hard to quantify intangibles - a safe and
warm refuge, concerts and lectures, camaraderie.

Even the most Scrooge-like conservative would conclude that
Philadelphia should increase, not decrease, its investment
in its public libraries.

Trying To Take The Public Out Of Public Libraries

All things public are under attack. The Fort Worth
rebranding is an indication of how effective this attack has
been. The city explained that it was dropping the word
"public" because of its "potentially negative connotation".
The Founding Fathers would be disconsolate. John Adams wrote
in 1776, "There must be a positive passion for the public
good, the public interest...established in the minds of the
people, or there can be no republican government, nor any
real liberty: and this public passion must be superior to
all private passions." Thomas Jefferson agreed, "I
profess... that to be false pride which postpones the public
good to any private or personal considerations."

Would it be improper for me to mention the Forth Worth
rebranding initiative was mostly paid for by a large oil
drilling company?

An increasing number of library systems have gone beyond
name changing to actual privatization of ever-larger parts
of their library operations. The biggest player in the
library privatization game is Library Systems & Services
(LSSI), founded in 1981 to take advantage of President
Reagan's initiative to privatize government services. LSSI
now privately manages more than 60 public libraries
nationwide and now trails only Los Angeles, Chicago and New
York City as an operator of library branches.

For many years libraries have outsourced some operations.
Cataloging, for example, has been contracted out since the
Library of Congress began issuing printed catalogs.

But the new wave of privatization goes far beyond simple
contracting out for services and raises fundamental
questions. For example, LSSI's contract with Santa Clarita,
California gives LSSI control of all hiring and materials
purchasing.

Privatization can undermine the public library's mission:
protecting the public's access to information. The public
library is a non-profit organization controlled by
representatives of the users of the library. The mission of
private companies is to maximize profits. They are
controlled by representatives of their investors. LSSI, for
example, is owned by a private equity fund, Islington
Capital Partners whose investors expect a handsome profit on
their capital. (The company does not disclose its earnings.)

LSSI's Chief Executive Frank A. Pezzanite is straightforward
about how he views public libraries. "Somehow they have been
put in the category of a sacred organization", he insists.
They are nothing of the sort to him. They are just a
business.

When the level of investors' profits depend on the
difference between the budget in the contract the company
signs with a city and what it actually spends on services an
inherent tension exists between public good and private
gain.

Private companies insist they operate more efficiently than
a public non-profit, but that is problematic. After all,
LSSI charges administrative fees as high as 15 percent. When
the city of Linden, New Jersey ended its LSSI contract
early, Linden Mayor John Gregorio maintained the city would
save $300,000 - about 15 percent of the library budget - by
running the library itself.

Private companies cut costs the same way the public sector
cuts costs---either by cutting services or acquisitions or
by cutting staff or staff benefits. In 2007 Jackson County,
Oregon contracted with LSSI to run its library system. The
five year contract cut in half the amount the County had
previously paid. It also cut in half the libraries'
operating hours. All libraries are now closed on Sundays.

Libraries have suffered staff reductions for several years,
but when library personnel are private employees the
negotiation process can become personal and adversarial,
undermining morale inside and outside the library. Pezzanite
vividly expressed this in-your-face attitude of librarians
when he announced, "Their policies are all about job
security. That's why the profession is nervous about us. You
can go to a library for 35 years and never have to do
anything and then have your retirement. We're not running
our company that way. You come to us, you're going to have
to work."

A truly public library is there for the long term. A private
company has a short-term view. The Paterson, New Jersey
library board considered an LSSI proposal but instead found
a new automation-savvy director, Cindy Czesak. "I'd have no
trouble hiring LSSI to do consulting, but I have real
questions about them running a whole system," says Czesak, a
former New Jersey Library Association President. "I think
they worry less about developing long-term relationships
within the community."

As I've observed, librarians have often stood up to
authority when it came to protecting their patrons' privacy
or access to information. When public librarians go to work
for companies like LSSI they often lose job protection. It
will be much harder for them to take a principled stand when
they risk their jobs.

We need to fight the privatization of the public library
while at the same time defending and nourishing our existing
libraries. Too often the fight to protect libraries starts
when the lights are about to go out and when they do not go
out we declare a victory even thought there are fewer bulbs
and their light is dimmer. Pennies more per day per library
user would allow their brilliance to return.

A few weeks ago the nation celebrated National Library Week.
You didn't know? Few did. A search of more than 500 U.S.
papers via Nexis came up with only a few dozen news items on
the subject. The vast majority consisted of a couple of
lines about an event at the local library. At a time when
public libraries are fighting for their very existence there
was no table pounding, no fiery advocacy, indeed, no fire at
all.

In what will undoubtedly be a protracted and bruising fight
to expand America's public libraries in a time of financial
distress, librarians themselves should not be expected to
take the lead. The public should.

Because most libraries get 90 percent of their funding from
local taxes grassroots initiative can have a major impact.
When activists have managed to put a library funding measure
one the ballot, they usually win. In 2010 some 87 percent of
these ballot initiatives were approved across the country.

We need a grassroots effort to defend our public libraries,
an effort that can and should be part of a growing
nationwide and international effort to defend the public
sphere itself. Such efforts have begun.

In Bedford, Texas, after a community-wide petition campaign
to oppose library outsourcing gathered 1,700 signatures in
four days, city council members voted 4-3 to reject
privatization.

In Philadelphia grassroots organizations such as Coalition
to Save the Libraries sprang up in 2008 after the city,
without a formal vote of the City Council, announced it was
going to close 11 library branches. Residents of 9 of the
affected neighborhoods plus several city councilors filed
suit, citing a 1988 ordinance that no city-owned facility
may close, be abandoned, or go into disuse without City
Council approval. After two days of hearings packed with
library supporters and just hours before the mandated
closure, Judge Idee Fox granted an injunction against the
closures.

In her ruling Judge Fox made clear the city's decision was
about more than money, "The decision to close these eleven
library branches is more than a response to a financial
crisis; it changes the very foundation of our City."

Fort Worth got it wrong. We need to put the PUBLIC back into
public library.

[David Morris

Vice President, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, based in
Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.; local economic and social
development.]

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