STLS Sends Testimony to NY State Assembly

Last week, New York State library systems were asked to provide testimony in writing, or in person to the Assembly Standing Committee on Libraries and Education and Technology. The Committee sought input on the anticipated impacts of increased funding to New York libraries. Library Aid increased for 2015-2016 by 5.6%.

I would have liked to attend in person, but the event was held in New York City, and my schedule did not allow for travel. The hearing is taking place this morning at 10:00 am.

Below you will find STLS’s written testimony. We will provide a copy to all of our State representatives. I thought I would share it with all of you for this week’s Follow-up.

To: Committee on Libraries and Education TechnologyReference: Testimony on the Impact of the 2015-2016 State Budget on New York Libraries

Dear Assemblyman Abinanti and Assembly Committee Members:

Thank you for taking time to listen to New York State libraries. We appreciate the 2015-2016 funding support through the budget priorities of the Assembly and Senate.

I have had the pleasure of working in rural New York State public libraries for the last twelve years. During this time I have served as a library director for a small library with an annual budget of $60,000, a mid-sized library with an annual budget of $600,000, and I now serve as a library system director with a State-supported budget of $1.1 million. Serving within rural public libraries is an amazing experience.

The Southern Tier Library System serves 48 public library outlets in a five-county region. We are responsible for developing and enhancing overall library services to 280,457 residents. Our smallest library receives annual public funds in the amount of $9,115.Our largest library receives annual public funds in the amount of $2.7 million, which supports five library outlets.

The average library budget within our region is $140,000. When you exclude our 4 largest libraries, the average budget is $56,635. It is difficult for a family of four to flourish on an annual income of $50,000. You can only imagine how difficult is for an organization charged to provide services to an entire community.

The impact of increased 2015-2016 State funding to libraries is, and will be significant. Although libraries are still not funded at the prescribed levels as written in Education Law, the increases received in this year’s budget have enabled us to provide direct relief to public libraries and community members.

For the first time since 2008, our library system is in a position to add an additional full-time professional for the purpose of assisting rural libraries navigate the challenges of meeting State Minimum Standards, and professional best practices. This professional can empower 48 libraries to develop, improve and increase learning opportunities within our communities.

For example, our libraries were visited 217,000 times in 2014 for public computing access. 4,200 of these visits required some form of training between a librarian and community member. Additionally, libraries provided 1,897 public computing classes in this same time period. By adding one more professional to the Southern Tier Library System, we can predict this type of engagement will increase notably in the coming years through curriculum development, training and public awareness.

Moreover, added funds will allow our libraries to expand digital collections to communities. 11% of library transactions take place online. Our libraries provide eBooks, downloadable audio books, music downloads and streaming, movie streaming and online magazine subscriptions. Through increased State funding, we are able to maximize community savings by increasing the titles in our digital collections. Community members in our region downloaded 178,032 materials last year, and realized $1.5 million in cost savings. These savings will go up significantly next year as libraries increase their investment in online content.

Despite a common misconception, public library users in rural communities still rely heavily on print and media resources. 89% of all library circulation in the Southern Tier Library System still takes place within the physical walls of a library building. Our libraries checked-out 1.6 million library materials in 2014. Our libraries also shared 266,000 library materials amongst each other to expand the size of each library’s community collection. This sharing of services provided $42 million in community cost savings.

Increased funding to Southern Tier libraries makes a difference. Our libraries allocate roughly 15% of total public funds to library materials (physical and digital). 48 libraries spent $817,000 combined on library materials last year. This represents a return on investment of 50 when taking into account $42 million in community cost savings. Private market investors can only dream of these types of returns. Our median budget for library materials is $8,000 per library outlet. Cost savings in Southern Tier communities should increase by $2.3 million because of a 5.6% increase in State Aid.

Furthermore, our rural libraries provide educational and cultural enlightenment. They do this through programs such as academic lectures, music concerts, theatrical productions, early literacy, S.T.E.A.M instruction and hundreds of other creative outlets tied to the arts, humanities and technology. These high impact programs will increase as a result of improved funds. Southern Tier libraries offered 10, 226 programs in 2014 with 156,307 community members attending. This level of engagement saved community members $1.2 million in cost savings throughout our five-county region. We anticipate this savings to increase by more than $100,000 as a result of State-level support.

Training rural librarians is essential for developing successful library practices. Most of our library directors have obtained some level of college education. Only four libraries require a Master’s Degree in library science based on State Minimum Standards. The lowest annual salary of a library director in our region is $7,072 part-time. The highest annual library director salary is $88,650 full-time, who oversees five library outlets. The median library director salary is $18,000 full-time. A starting teacher’s salary in New York State is $43,839 plus benefits. Only six of our libraries provide access to medical or retirement plans.

One of the core competencies of the Southern Tier Library System is to provide training to rural librarians. This is where increased funding will have a meaningful impact on library system services. Our library system can increase its training budget by $12,000, which is significant considering our 2014-2015 Budget for training was $26,750. When State Aid to libraries is reduced or remains stagnant, this is the first place library systems cut in order to meet library demands. However, taking into account current training needs, this is the one area library systems should always be investing.

Lastly, economic development throughout the Southern Tier will be improved as a result of the 2015-2016 State allocation to libraries. Recently, Southern Tier Library System was awarded $106,000 in federal ERate funding to upgrade wireless Internet hardware within all 48 library outlets. We also expect another $150,000 in federal grants to connect our libraries to dark fiber Broadband infrastructure.

These federal funds along with funds through New York State Public Library Construction Aid will empower our residents to have access to Broadband connectivity that far exceeds New York State Broadband Standards. This level of access will come through the 300 plus public computers in our public libraries.

In addition to providing a high-level of Internet connectivity, our libraries will partner with local governments to drive down costs for businesses to connect to dark fiber Broadband. Connecting Southern Tier libraries to Southern Tier Network dark fiber will increase Broadband infrastructure in our rural region.

In closing, I want to thank the Assembly Standing Committee on Libraries and Education Technology. I appreciate the time and efforts Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti puts forth to organize this Committee, and listen to the genuine needs of New York libraries.

I value the commitment of all Committee members, including Assemblywoman Barbara Clark, Assemblyman Steven Otis, Assemblyman Joseph Saladino and Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages. Your abilities to connect with the impacts our libraries have on 19 million New Yorkers are honorable.

And lastly, I take pride in knowing my Assemblyman Phil Palmesano of Assembly District 132 serves on this Committee. Assemblyman Palmesano has historically been a champion for public libraries in our region, and I believe he truly represents the interests of our community members in Albany.

We hope the Assembly’s budget priorities in 2016-2017 will build upon the current year’s investment in New York State’s public libraries.

Sincerely,

Brian M. Hildreth, Executive Director
Southern Tier Library System

Have a great weekend STLS. And, keep up the great work.