Published: July 31, 2007 10:32 am            

Libraries are wise investments

Study: Dividends outpace tax support

“The library is the temple of learning, and learning has liberated more people than all the wars in history” – The late newspaper columnist Carl T. Rowan



Libraries in Cambria and Somerset counties do such a great job serving the needs of our region that it has been easy to take their values for granted.

Not anymore. Armed with the results of a statewide study conducted by the University of North Carolina, officials of our public libraries can now argue a return of $5.50 in benefits for every $1 in tax support.

And if they were to – God forbid – disappear, the study concluded, the economic loss to users and local economies would amount to about $1.34 billion.

So perhaps the next time you seek the services of one of the 19 library facilities in Cambria and Somerset counties, or their bookmobiles, you will be a little more appreciative and, if possible, a little more impressed.

In the recently passed 2007-2008 budget, Gov. Ed Rendell and the Legislature appropriated $75.7 million to our nearly 480 public libraries statewide. That’s about $300 more per library than in 2006-2007.

“We want everyone to know that libraries are a good investment for taxpayers,” Glenn Miller, executive director of the Pennsylvania Library Association, told our editorial board last week. He was accompanied by James Hollinger, chief of the Office of Commonwealth Libraries’ Division of Library Improvement, and Lyn Meek, longtime director of the Cambria County Library System.

The three join library officials statewide in encouraging even more funding support based on the results of the study.

“What we’re saying is, if this (service) weren’t here, what would it cost (the individual), and what is its economic benefit?” Miller said.

According to Meek, funding, in addition to state tax dollars, comes from the counties, local municipalities and school districts, user fines for things such as late returns on materials, copier fees and fundraisers.

“We’re getting clobbered (on funding) at the local level. That’s our biggest challenge,” Miller noted.

And if you were to conclude that the Internet is putting a hurting on library usage, you would be wrong, Meek said.

“We’re pretty level,” she said, noting that about 18,000 visits a month are made to Cambria library’s downtown headquarters.

“Other materials are still up,” she added, including services such as audio books, movies and an extensive music collection, in addition to 50 public-access Internet stations and the navigational expertise provided by her staff.

If you say you are impressed, we are, too.

Pennsylvania taxpayers dedicate $249 million to public libraries through local, state and federal taxes, and we think that is tax money well-spent. In 2006, 52 percent of all adults in Pennsylvania physically visited a library; 13 percent connected through remote access.

As a newspaper, we’re well aware of the benefits of reading, and certainly of having libraries. But as we are all forced to adjust to a growing presence of the Internet and other high-tech services, we think libraries will have to adapt even more when it comes to operating expenses.

We would like to see at least two things happen:

n Fewer but stronger libraries in Cambria and Somerset counties, as well as statewide. With a smaller number, funds would not be spread as thin. The days of every community having its own library are numbered.

n Additional efforts to secure nontax funding, including holding fund-raising events and seeking individual and group donations.

A healthy future for our libraries will benefit us all.

But it’s going to take hard work.

        

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