Detroit Public Library asks community what they can't live without

After spotting an article about Detroit, I got a little curious about the state of their public library.

Take a look at what I found on their website:

The Detroit Public Library (DPL) hosted two (2) community forums last week to inform the community about its current funding crisis and to get ideas about how best to serve the citizens of Detroit.  The presentation focused on DPL's property taxes and its current challenge to provide services with less resources.

And following this message - a brief but very specific survey.

1. The Library considers the following before making recommendations for branch closures:
* Budget
* Size, age and condition of building
* Population of immediate community
* Distance from other library locations
* Usage

Are there other factors the library should consider?

2. The library's basic functions (from DPL's Mission Statement) are to:

* Provide access to information
* Provide access to technology
* Provide cultural & educational programs

Based on these functions, please suggest what DPL should:

A. Stop doing:
B. Start doing:
C. Do more of:
D. Do less of:

Budget cuts are terrible, but they're a reality.  Looks like Detroit is doing a very smart thing in inviting crowd-sourcing.  They'll get a good idea of what branches and services must stay - and the library, despite the cuts, reaffirms to the public that it is they who libraries exist to serve.

Catching Up - Cuts to Libraries

Like I said yesterday, apologies for the extended absence. Have I lost all my followers? If not, how has everyone been holding up, especially with budget issues?

NJ's new governor revealed some massive cuts all around in his budget proposal yesterday. State aid to my library's town of West Orange is proposed to be $996,887 less than last year, or 17.5%. (Star Ledger). The Board of Education is expecting an even bigger hit.

In West Orange, the cuts mean a loss of $6 million in state aid, a nearly 64 percent cut.
"It means our educational program is going to be devastated," Superintendent Anthony Cavanna said. "It has the potential to drive taxes up. It may not; we can raise taxes or cut services. We have some pretty tough decisions to make." (Star Ledger)

NJLA has informed its constituents that the proposed budget is cutting millions of dollars for their services - money that goes to interlibrary loan, databases, program funding, and other critical library services.

I knew something was coming, and I guess we still don't really know what that something is. There's a facebook group, Save NJ Libraries that should keep everyone posted on what's going on and ways to get involved.

Let's hope for the best.