Back to library basics?

No, but restraint worth checking out

Studies come and studies go, particularly when they involve a public organization attempting to make sure it remains a relevant part of people’s lives.

The Fayetteville Public Library has long been relevant to its patrons, so much so that in their last big push to expand the facility, library leaders suggested users of the 88,000squarefoot library opened in 2004 were “loving the library to death.” It was a dramatic message, one that convinced taxpayers in 2016 to raise their own property taxes for operations and for a 103,000squarefoot expansion featuring a Center for Innovation, educational labs and simulators, a yoga/dance studio, audio and video studios, a teaching kitchen and a multipurpose space. You know, just routine library stuff.

City taxpayers subsidize the library with an annual transfer of $3.3 million on top of $5.7 million raised through property taxes.

Last December, though, the library’s executive director acknowledged the property tax voters approved isn’t enough to fund the massive library’s operations. Nowadays, the library runs on an annual deficit budget, bolstered by reserve funds, according to David Johnson. That model of operational funding is unsustainable, he said. Reserves in December totaled about $1.4 million. The future may mean cutting services or staff or asking voters for higher taxes.

Expenses exceeded projections and income from potentially moneymaking services at the library hasn’t met expectations.

Flash forward to February. The Fayetteville Library Board of Trustees received results from a $62,360 consultant’s study, funded by the Walton Family Foundation, outlining ideas from the community about what the library can do in the future. Ideas included establishment of a world language center to welcome the city’s newcomers. Some library users talked of poor access to public transportation and child care. One suggestion involved hiring social workers on the library staff to help residents find housing, jobs and health care. Job training is another area some are interested in.

Meanwhile, patrons said they’re concerned about long wait times to get into current library programs or programs that simply fill up quickly. Library employees said they need more coworkers.

And, oh yeah, the library still checks out materials like books. Indeed, 80% of those surveyed said that’s their primary reason for using the library. Hmmm, what a concept.

The consulting firm itself recommended raising employee pay and considering a library branch on the west side of Fayetteville. How plain Jane can you be?

Seriously, we appreciate any public entity that tries to figure out its place in the grand scheme, based on customer feedback. And we realize libraries today are far different than they used to be, offering myriad services beyond books and reference sections.

But is there a danger that a library can become a dumping ground for every wishlist idea people can’t convince their city or county governments or some nonprofits to undertake?

The library is so big now that its patrons don’t fully grasp what services exist today. Library officials say they’re working to add more signs and information to help people grasp what’s available. There are sections of the library that are creative spaces, but simply seem offlimits to the casual patron looking around the beautiful facility.

Could part of the overall lesson of the last few years be that a library can bite off more than it can chew? Really, is a library budget the place to fund social workers, no matter how good the motivation?

Maybe one of the goals nobody suggested in the study is a simple one nobody thought they needed to bring up: Be the very best you can be with what you offer now. There’s nothing wrong with big dreams, as long as they’re weighed against big realities. Johnson, to his credit, said some of the suggestions go beyond a library’s capacity to fix. And we would add a library needs to find its lane and stay within it. It cannot be everything to everybody.

With so many using the library to check out materials, doesn’t a western branch sound far more logical a pursuit than burdening the library with solving homelessness or trying to be a jobs training center? Doesn’t having a staff capable of excelling at the services already provided sound like a solid foundation before hiring social workers?

If money were no object, perhaps the Fayetteville Public Library could become a Disneyland of fulfilling everyone’s wishes. But money is clearly a concern, and should be front and center on all discussions. Living within one’s means is a fundamental responsibility.

The library is in a financial pinch to some degree because of inadequate planning of the past. It’s vital not to replicate that in pursuit of notions that the library can be the solution to every local concern.

We appreciate that Johnson and, we suspect, the full board recognize the need for some restraint in future plans. While it’s fun for a study of public needs to brainstorm what might be, the people of Fayetteville also rely on that leadership to carefully, from a financial perspective, nurture a true gem within the community.

Sometimes, the responsible thing to do is to think inside the box, even when the stuff outside of it looks really appealing.