Bill Ryan/The Gazette Frederick teens Miena Ahmadzai, 14, Tanaisia Jow, 13, and Roadsney Ceballos, 16, use the computers on Aug. 10 at the C. Burr Artz Public Library in downtown Frederick.

• 
• 
Bill Ryan/The Gazette A sign early at the Technology Center earlier this month annouced that the area is closed at the C. Burr Artz Public Library in downtown Frederick. Public libraries around the state have seen their budgets cut in recent years.
• 
Bill Ryan/The Gazette Patrons use the C. Burr Artz Public Library in downtown Frederick on a recent weekday. Frederick County’s library system, which had 1.2 million visitors last year, has lost about $1.6 million in funding for operating and capital expenses in the past few years.
• 
Bill Ryan/The Gazette David Wallace, a Frederick resdient, volunteers in the Maryland Room in the C. Burr Artz Public Library in downtown Frederick. Several of his works on local history are stored there.

Bill Ryan/The Gazette Frederick teens Miena Ahmadzai, 14, Tanaisia Jow, 13, and Roadsney Ceballos, 16, use the computers on Aug. 10 at the C. Burr Artz Public Library in downtown Frederick.

<< Prev

Next >>

More News

Takoma Park police aim to catch fleeing thieves

State chamber: Income tax hike will unfairly hurt Montgomery

Push for Shady Grove arena refueled

Montgomery County executive: Rapid Transit Vehicle system will be built

PSC weighs whether utility customers can reject smart meters

Some of Montgomery County's libraries became infested with ants and cockroaches earlier this year when the county cut back on cleaning and vacuuming of the buildings.

The county was able to come up with the money to pay for pest control, according to libraries Director Parker Hamilton, and the bugs are gone.

“Thank goodness,” she said.

But there still is a concern about the sanitation of the buildings, which are being cleaned about three times per week; a year ago they were vacuumed daily, Hamilton said.

“We have more than 11 million people walking through our doors every year, programs with little kids sitting on our carpet. So, yeah, it's a concern for all of us,” she said.

In tight economic times, libraries often are one of the first institutions to suffer cuts. Library directors statewide say their budgets have been flat-lined or reduced during the past few years, as counties considered ways to trim budgets. Montgomery's libraries have taken perhaps the largest strike of any system statewide — losing about 37 percent of their funding since 2008.

“Montgomery County has just been destroyed,” said Darrell Batson, the director of libraries in neighboring Frederick County. “Parker Hamilton has done a brilliant job down there, but her system has been hit.”

Libraries, directors say, are more susceptible to cuts than other government agencies, such as schools and police, because they largely are misunderstood.

“They view us as a book warehouse,” Batson said. “There's a bunch of books. That's easy to get rid of.”

For their part, elected leaders have said cuts to library service are regrettable, but necessary, as they decrease costs across county government.

“What's happening in Montgomery County is not unique,” said Molly Raphael, president of the American Library Association. “Libraries are feeling cutbacks in funding all around the country.”

Data provided by the association show that nationwide 16 percent of libraries are reporting a decline in their hours of operation — amounting to lost time at more than 2,600 branches.

And in fiscal 2011, 60 percent of libraries reported reduced budgets. Officials in 17 states said at least one library was closed in 2010 because of a lack of funds.

At the same time, librarians have seen a dramatic change in the way the public uses their facilities. Batson said they are no longer places to simply check out books, but rather have morphed into centers of learning where the public scans computers, undertakes research, listens to music and views DVDs.

The increase in the nation's jobless rate also means more people are taking advantage of the libraries' free Internet access to search for and apply for jobs. The American Library Association said 70 percent of libraries nationwide report an increase in the use of their computers with Internet access.

That need is greatest in rural parts of the state, including Garrett County, where high-speed Internet access is limited to areas near major highways, according to Cathy Ashby, Garrett's director of libraries.

On a recent afternoon, she said the 12 computers with Internet access at the Accident branch were in use.

“There's still people with dial-up access,” Ashby said to explain the demand.

The county has tried to continue supporting libraries by flat-lining the library system budget this year, rather than cutting it, she said. Garrett's libraries, however, did get a 17 percent reduction in state funding this year, bringing its total operating budget in fiscal 2012 to about $1.27 million. About $982,000 comes from the county.

For fiscal 2012, the state budgeted $32 million in library aid statewide — a decrease from fiscal 2011 when Maryland spent more than $33 million.

Like many counties, Garrett has reduced the number of materials the libraries purchase, including books, Ashby said.

In Prince George's County, libraries will spend less than $3 million this year on materials — down from $4 million in fiscal 2011, said Kathleen Teaze, director of the library system. In fiscal 2012, the libraries have a budget of $23.8 million — about $4 million less than in 2008, she said.

To save money, the Prince George's system has eliminated Sunday service at all 18 locations, reduced evening hours on other days and closed some smaller branches on Fridays. It also reduced the number of electronic databases the libraries subscribe to by 30 percent, and eliminated some programs for children and adults.

At the same time, Teaze said the number of people with library cards — 439,201 — has increased by 15 percent in the past several years.

“We have more people trying to get in the building for fewer hours,” she said.

In Frederick County, the main branch in Frederick city shuttered a computer lab, stopped adult programming and reduced hours in the Maryland room, which includes a special collection of local history and genealogy resources, Batson said.

The library system, which had 1.2 million visitors last year to its eight branches, has an $11.2 million budget for fiscal 2012. Batson said the libraries have lost about $1.6 million in funding for operating and capital expenses in the past few years.

County elected leaders in general have a lack of understanding and knowledge about the role of libraries, he said.

“I think sometimes elected officials still relate back to the libraries of their childhood and do not understand the growth and dimension of what libraries are today,” Batson said. “They see people with their smart phones and laptops and say, ‘We don't need a library anymore.'”

County libraries are as much a part of the community as police, schools and parks, he said.

Like in Garrett County, libraries in Somerset County provide high-speed Internet access lacking in many parts of the county, said Jennifer Ranck, the libraries director. The libraries also offer summer reading programs and help with early education, she said.

Funding for the county's three branch libraries — including one on Smith Island that gets a delivery once per week by boat — is about $864,000 in fiscal 2012. The county's contribution is roughly $470,000 — $50,000 less than it spent on libraries in fiscal 2009.

Ranck said she has not had to lay off librarians, but has reduced the number of books and other materials they buy. The library system is purchasing fewer best-selling books than it used to, and users are waiting longer to receive popular titles, she said.

“Hold lists are a lot longer now than they would have been in years past,” she said. “We just can't meet the demand of what people want to read.”

ecunningham@gazette.net