WAY TO GO!

Library Administrator's Digest, Feb 2004 by Robinson, Charles W

I see that the Middle Country Public Library in Centereach, NY is now claiming the most square feet of any library on Long Island. (I guess that doesn't include Queens and Brooklyn, which are technically on Long Island, aren't they?) They've expanded their central library from 55,000-square feet to 77,000 square feet, and they have a 30,000 square-foot branch. That's a big branch.

All this for a population of 60,000 people. Who apparently are quite glad to fork over their money (they must have lots of it!) for library service, because the per capita support exceeds $150. And not all of it, apparently, goes to staff salaries: they spend over $20 per capita on materials.

My assumption, like yours, is that this is an extremely wealthy community. I certainly have always thought that most of these Long Island communities were rolling in money, based on the high per capita support that their libraries receive.

But wait: I logged on to the Web site that tells you the comparison of the cost of living in various communities. In checking there, it appears that it takes less income in Centereach to maintain a certain standard of living than it does in Denver, Lutherville, M.D (where I live), Newton and Lowell, MA. The only place out of the five I checked where it would take a lot more money to live if you moved to Centereach is Des Moines, IA.

I don't think that any of those places have anywhere near the financial support, or the square footage per capita, that Centereach does.

How come? Well, I would guess that Middle Country puts its budget to a vote, but holds its vote in the library, in common with other Long Island libraries. That means an affirmative vote on the library's budget proposal by library users (and staff!) in the building, right? Seems so to me.

Well, how outrageous is $150 per capita? Not so much that the majority of taxpayers of the 60,000 population have made a point of descending on the library on election day to kill the library's budget. And apparently the library budget hasn't raised the cost of living all that much. And you surely can't say that other taxes in New York State are low, at least not from what I've heard.

And with the buildings and the book budget at Middle Country, I'll bet the service they give to the public exceeds that of any of the other places that I mention, most of which are more expensive in terms of living costs than Centereach, Long Island.

So, my conclusion is that the appropriating authorities all over the United States (with the exception of Ohio) are shortchanging public libraries big time in comparison to what the public really wants. Apparently $150 per capita for the library brings on no revolt, or even murmurs of dissent. Would that the situation was the same all over the country.