Is writing on the wall for city’s libraries?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/12/2009 (5814 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Over the past 12 years or so, I have discovered there are many benefits to marrying a librarian. A steady flow of new books is certainly one. And there is the never-ending stream of interesting but obscure facts. Librarians tend to dominate Trivial Pursuit.

But for my money, the most enjoyable benefit is that no matter where you go, you’re likely to visit a library.

Libraries might not seem like a top attraction for most tourists, but they are for librarians. These facilities are monuments to culture, learning, literacy, architecture and urban design.

We’re big fans of the new Minneapolis central library, a gleaming glass and stone facade that stands at one end of the famed Nicollet Mall. And the 5th Avenue humanities and social sciences branch of the New York Public Library in Manhattan is a must-see, both in terms of its architecture and the elegant restaurant, patio and common at the rear.

The main downtown branch of the Vancouver Public Library features a coliseum-inspired design that provides hours of breathtaking views.

To date, perhaps the most impressive of the public libraries we have visited is in Seattle. The avant-garde iron and glass structure is considered one of the most innovative public buildings in North America. Designed by noted Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, the building is both hideous and beautiful, symmetrical and asymmetrical, suffocating and breathtaking.

The Koolhaas library also stands as a shining example of what a community can accomplish when politicians and the public pull together.

The library was the product of Libraries for All, a decade-long campaign to modernize and expand Seattle’s library system. Libraries for All raised some $240 million, including nearly $200 million from a municipal bond offering.

Seattle celebrated the 10th anniversary of Libraries for All last year. It was declared an unmitigated success. But just as soon as all the back-patting was over, reality set back in.

This past year, Seattle enacted a five per cent cutback in total funding for libraries, a reduction that will close 20 of 26 branches for up to two days a week. Capital spending to maintain the libraries was cut by more than a third.

The American Library Association noted that more than 40 per cent of states will cut spending on libraries. Across Canada, it’s much the same story: frozen or reduced operating funds, layoffs or attrition, cutbacks in capital and electronic resources.

It seems that only a few communities, including Vancouver, have bucked this trend. Faced with a deep cut in funding for libraries, Vancouver city council recently cobbled together a deal that involved a rollback in wages for non-unionized staff and a 0.6 per cent property tax increase. In total, Vancouver property taxes will now go up by 2.6 per cent, but libraries remain intact.

When times get tough at city hall, city hall tends to cuts funding to things like libraries. Why this happens is not entirely clear. Certainly, it is difficult to see libraries up with police and fire services when it comes to funding priorities. But it is widely known that bureaucrats under pressure to cut spending often come back to their political masters with proposals to close libraries and pools, knowing how unpopular those measures are with the voting public.

It is at times of economic uncertainty that we get to see what our communities are made of. In Winnipeg, we have thankfully not been bothered by the worst of what the recession has had to offer other cities, and so our library system has been left pretty much alone. Budgets have been squeezed, staff laid off or positions unfilled. Free wireless Internet was provided, but it was not a net gain — the city took $30,000 from the libraries’ technology budget to pay for it.

Will we have a library system that is lean, but intact, as we go forward? It’s hard to say for sure, and there is trouble on the horizon.

The provincial government is facing a larger deficit this year than previously forecast, and next year is expected to be very lean as well. There may less money to transfer to municipalities, which in turn must re-assess their priorities.

What are Winnipeg’s priorities? Even though city council is allergic to property tax increases, it is still trying to give away $7 million to build a water park while spending $3.5 million on a police helicopter. Libraries don’t rate high.

If and when the going gets tougher in Winnipeg, what kind of resolve will we demonstrate? Will we value books and libraries, or give over to more expedient priorities?

If more city councillors were married to librarians, it would be an easy call.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca