Northland library facing crunch amid funding decline
Capital improvements also deemed necessary
Northland Public Library is adjusting to years of reduced state funding, leaving officials scrambling to budget for capital improvements that must be made soon.
Amy Steele, library executive director, said state funding fell off in 2010 because the state eliminated several programs that provided money for libraries. That left only the public library subsidy, which was cut by 33 percent in 2010.
“We are still receiving funds well below 2007 funding levels from the state,” she said.
The library’s budget for 2018 is slightly more than $2.9 million, with the state expected to contribute $294,172.
“At this point, we are hopeful that it doesn’t get cut,” she said of the state funding.
As recently as 2009, state funding accounted for nearly 20 percent of the library’s budget.
Next year, state funding will be about10 percent.
The cuts in state money have been made up largely by increases in the county’s Regional Asset District
funding, by increases from the five member municipalities that are served by Northland, and by generating more funds in-house, such as through program fees and the semi-annual used book sale, she added.
“We’ve been doing our part by meeting with people at the state level,” said Santina Balestreire, director of marketing and communications. “We are an educational institution. We’re the foundation in an educational life cycle.”
Although the proposed state budget has more funding for education, it does not trickle down to libraries, Ms. Steele said.
“We had to really tighten things up through those lean years, and now it has caught upto us,” she added.
The library — which serves Bradford Woods, Franklin Park, Marshall, McCandless and Ross — will be 50 years old nextyear.
The building was constructed in 1978 and renovated in 2005. The roof and the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system need to be updated.
“Those are fairly large projects,” said Bob Lukitsch, finance director.
They were upgraded 19 years ago, and the library has kept up with repairs, but “they are getting close to the end of their life cycles,” he said.
The library has gotten some preliminary estimates for the work but does not have a definitive price yet.
Although some capital fundraising has been done — the capital reserve fund has approximately $500,000 — it is not enough to pay for both projects.
“We will try for some grants and rebates from various sources. If necessary, we will look into borrowing,” Ms. Steele said.
Cindy Potter of McCandless, president of the library board, said a new HVAC system will save money in the long run through energy efficiency.
In addition, Mr. Lukitsch said, the library has a list of items that need to be done “sooner rather than later.” Ms. Balestreire said the library needs “to get out of reactionary mode and into proactive mode” with maintenance.
The municipalities have been picking up more of the slack with the library, Ms. Potter said. When drains in the parking lot needed to be replaced, all five municipalities contributed to the project, either with funding or labor and equipment.
But, Ms. Balestreire said, “We can’t go running to the municipalities every time something breaks.
We need to get in front of those things before they happen.”
The library’s capital funding woes were discussed at the Oct. 2 meeting of Ross commissioners. Commissioner Rick Avon, an architect, said he toured the facility and was concerned about some of the patchwork repairs done on systems.
Commissioner Dan DeMarco, who represents the commissioners on the library board, put part of the blame on some previous Ross commissioners who were reluctant to fund library operations and instead wanted to open their own library.
“Some commissioners in the past were just very tough when it came to the library and felt we shouldn’t be supporting it as much,” he said. “Ross Township, at the time, drove the library into spending every single penny that was sitting there. Otherwise, they were screaming that the money should go back. No, the money shouldn’t go back. It should be put into a capital reserve.”
Ms. Potter said a survey done by the library last year showedt hat “the public wants more of everything we provide.”
In addition, the population of the service area continues to grow. “We’ve been serving more and more people,” Ms. Steele said.
Mr. Avon said the municipalities need to stop “playing politics” with the library. “Not everybody needs a branch because it is going to cost everyone more, to be honest with you,” he said. “That library needs to be expanded. It is a gem.”