Feedback: Letters to LJ, October 15, 2010 

Not through politicians
I read with great interest John Berry’s column on how libraries can tap popular support by going directly to the voters (Blatant Berry, LJ 9/1/10, p. 8). Here in New York State, the average passage rate for library budget votes over the past three years is 97 percent, a stellar number. Unfortunately, when libraries depend on funding from the state, county, or city, they receive a less ringing endorsement and have faced continued cuts. So libraries should follow the success stories here in New York, Ohio, Connecticut, and elsewhere and seek a path to more stable and reliable funding that doesn’t involve going through a middleman or politician to get public support.
—Michael J. Borges, Exec. Dir., New York Lib. Assn., Guilderland

Success in Ohio
I have just finished John Berry’s wonderful “Going to the Voters” (Blatant Berry, LJ 9/1/10, p. 8) about the value of public support for public libraries.... In that column he writes, “In Ohio, where library allocations from the state government virtually disappeared, voters passed 86 percent of the library levies on the ballot. That is compelling.” It is true that in May 2010, 86 percent of our libraries did pass their levies (81 percent in November 2009), and we hope for continued success this November. However, I want everyone to know that public libraries in Ohio were successful in turning back the threats of significant cuts last year. In 2010, Ohio’s public libraries will receive about $360 million from the state, which is 1.97 percent of the total tax revenue in the state. We have lost some state funding, but it has not ­disappeared.
—Lynda Murray, Dir. of Government & Legal Svcs., Ohio Library Council, Columbus

Good news from Florida
Since fall 2007, I have served as the first professional director and only paid employee at Indian Rocks Beach Library on central Florida’s west coast. A host of volunteers coordinated by our Friends of the Library staff the library for 41 hours weekly. The city’s population is 5000, and the library’s collection is 20,700 items. Circulation for the past 12 months was 23,000 and has increased by 10,000 since 2006. Our budget has remained the same for the past two years. We now receive state aid and have reciprocal borrowing privileges with the libraries belonging to the countywide cooperative. We host children’s summer reading and adult book discussion programs. Our five public Internet access computers and ILS system have been replaced. We have just finished the final phase of an interior makeover that resulted from a space analysis of our facility. The library is located on one of the barrier islands on the Gulf Coast and provides library services to a large number of tourists and seasonal residents. Not all is lost for library users in small-town Florida.
—Jane Mitchell, Libn., Indian Rocks Beach Lib., FL

Not the “Old West”
I very much appreciated Ken St. Andre’s overview of the Western genre, “Not Ready for Boot Hill” (LJ 8/10, p. 33-35). Western fiction is the most difficult to find because the review sources are not out there. I do receive Round-Up Magazine, and I will see that we are on the mailing list for catalogs from the major Western publishers he mentioned.... [O]ur high desert landscape is populated by lots of ranches, farms, and [Bureau of Land Management] land, giving the impression of the open frontier of the Old West. Our patrons must certainly feel they are living in the traditional West because our Western fiction is very popular. I once tried to weed that section based on zero circulation numbers, but I had to go to Plan B because all of our Westerns circulate a lot. Thanks for the good information.
—Donna Bettencourt, Collection Development Libn., Mesa Cty. Libs., Grand Junction, CO

A bigger slice
I see a conjunction among the letters in Feedback in your July issue (LJ 7/10, p. 12). The whole problem is that libraries have taken on the role of the community/recreation center while keeping the budget of the original library. The library of my youth was where I went to get books, not the focus of my entertainment. Now libraries are trying to meet the entire entertainment needs of their community with movies, games, social events, etc. But they are locked into a funding/staffing formula that was just for books/educational materials. And they wonder why they are going broke. I suggest that public libraries need to define who they are. If they are going to be everything, they need to take a bigger slice of the pie. If they want to return to their original purpose, then current funding will be more than adequate.
—Chris Grippo, North Brunswick, NJ

Correction
In Kristin Ramsdell’s review of Jayne Castle’s Midnight Crystal (Romance, LJ 8/10, p. 59), it’s noted the Amanda Quick entry to the “Dreamlight Trilogy” is Running Hot, a previous Jayne Ann Krentz title. The AQ entry is Burning Lamp.
—Katie Dunneback, Consultant, East Central Lib. Svcs., Bettendorf, IA