WASHINGTON - They're the lone source of free computer andInternet access in most communities, allowing the unemployed tosearch for jobs, learn computer skills and spruce up their resumes.Millions use them to stay in touch with relatives, apply forgovernment services or to seek health information.
But public libraries' critical role as neighborhood informationhubs hasn't shielded the nearly 17,000 of them across the countryfrom budget scalpels.
After spurring a surge in public library use nationwide, thetough economy is forcing many branches to cut staff, hours andprogramming right when many cash-strapped people need them most.
As in previous downturns, Americans turned to their librariesduring the Great Recession for free children's programming or toborrow books, movies and music. In 2008, when the economy was infree fall, a record 68 percent of Americans had a library card, andlibrary visits and borrowing spiked as well.
However, a whopping 72 percent of public libraries reportedbudget cuts this year; 43 percent cut staff as well, according to arecent survey by the Library Journal.
While public libraries rely overwhelmingly on local tax dollars,19 states cut public library funding this year, and 17 reportedlibrary closures, a new American Library Association survey found.
Big-city libraries have been hit hardest. Among those with morethan 1 million annual visitors, roughly 9 in 10 cut budgets andstaff. System-wide cuts in their operating hours, on average,amounted to two branch closings, the journal survey found.
Experts say the funding crunch could cause libraries to lose muchof the progress they've made in becoming relevant in the digitalage. As years of cuts mount, many fear battered library computerswon't be replaced, subscriptions won't be renewed, software upgradeswill be delayed and staffing shortages will be institutionalized.
Already, 7 in 10 public libraries don't have enough computers tomeet public demand, and more than half lack staff to adequatelyserve all job seekers.
Whether this becomes the "new normal" is unclear. But with stateand local funds limited by slow revenue growth and a strong anti-tax climate, public libraries are at a critical juncture.
"I think there's going to be some library systems that look verydifferent when we come out of this recession. And I don't know ifthose dollars are ever coming back for some libraries," said JohnCarlo Bertot, director of the Center for Library & InformationInnovation at the University of Maryland.
The Bascom Library and Community Center in San Jose, Calif., wascompleted in December, but it sits empty because the city can'tafford to staff or operate it.
That means people such as Al Mata, who lives three blocks fromBascom, has to drive to a library in nearby Santa Clara so his twosons can complete their schoolwork.
"That's my biggest complaint. I'm paying taxes in San Jose, but Ican't utilize the resources. The library is just sitting there withthe gates closed," Mata said.
Bill Todd, 75, who also lives nearby, said he wrote the mayor,Gov. Jerry Brown and President Barack Obama asking for a loan to getthe library opened. He's not expecting a response.
"Why put up a building if you can't open it?" Todd asked. "It'sjust waiting for broken windows and spray paint. It has a fencearound it, but I can climb over the fence and I'm 75."
Adding insult to injury: San Jose residents have been paying forBascom and other facilities since 2001, when voters passed a majorlibrary construction bond. A separate measure to pay for books andfurnishings was also passed, said Steve Kline, the president of theFriends of Bascom Library.
"If people knew in 2001 that we were going to build the building,but not open it, that bond wouldn't have passed," Kline said.
Despite their funding peril, public libraries remain one of themost popular government services and historically have fared prettywell at the ballot box. In 2009, voters passed 84 percent of libraryfunding referendums nationwide and 54 percent of libraryconstruction measures, according to the Library Journal.
But that success rate faltered in Troy, Mich., where the city'sonly public library is set to close on May 1 after voters defeatedseveral ballot measures last year that would have kept the 50-year-old facility alive.
The last measure lost by about 700 votes after a local anti-taxgroup told residents they could force the city to keep the libraryopen without raising taxes, said Kim Yanchyshyn, a libraryvolunteer.
"They said, 'There's money in the budget if they just get rid ofwaste,' " Yanchyshyn recalled. "We did everything we could tocommunicate that there was no guarantee that this (claim) was evenvalid."
As it turned out, the claim wasn't valid. In February, a judgeruled the city could close the library. To make matters worse, oncethe library closes, Troy residents will have to pay from $100 tonearly $200 a year to borrow books from libraries in neighboringcities.
As she worked the counter at the library's bookstore recently,Yanchyshyn said customers were openly expressing regret about thelibrary's fate.
"People have finally sort of realized that for a relatively smallamount of additional tax, this city is losing a lot in terms ofservices," Yanchyshyn said.
Public libraries in their current form didn't catch on in theU.S. until the 1800s, when free education for children became thenorm and rapid immigration drove explosive population growth.Pittsburgh steel magnate Andrew Carnegie bankrolled construction ofroughly 1,700 public libraries in the U.S. between 1881 and 1919.
But even Carnegie's namesake library system in Pittsburgh - thenation's first to open neighborhood branches in 1898 - saw itsoperating budget cut by $1.5 million this year.
The budget crisis has forced libraries such as the one inShrewsbury, Mass., to get more creative in seeking new funding.
When the Shrewsbury library lost funding for Sunday hours in2005, library director Ellen Dolan asked about 100 area businessesfor help. For $500, a company could "sponsor" one full day of Sundaylibrary service.
In exchange, each week's sponsoring company was acknowledged witha large sign in the lobby that greeted visitors. Dolan said theeffort raised enough money to fund Sunday hours from October to May.She said the program offers a promising example for cash-strappedlibraries elsewhere.
In the past six years, the sponsorship cost has climbed to $600,but civic groups and individuals have joined businesses to keep thetradition alive. Recently, an 8-year-old boy asked that loved onessponsor a Sunday in his name rather than purchase gifts for hisbirthday.
"Instead of taking gifts for himself, he gave a gift to thecommunity," Dolan said. "We had a birthday cake for him here thatday, and he served birthday cake to the visitors. It was prettywonderful."
Municipal funding for the Sunday service hasn't been restoredsince the program began. But the new community sponsors have become"strong and vocal advocates for why the library is important in thecommunity," Dolan said. "That has really been a surprising andwonderful outcome."
MCT photo Steve Kline stands in front of the Bascom Library andCommunity Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 11. Kline and TheFriends of the Bascom Library and Community Center have been pushingthe city to open the facility, which sits empty after being comple
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