Presented by: We are district (And so can you!) Or, the joys and tribulations of being a library district Buzzy Nielsen Library Director July 28, 2012 This presentation is licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution United States license. http://www.creativecommons.org (with apologies to Stephen Colbert)
We are district (And so can you!): Or, the joys and tribulations of being a library district
Oct 17, 2014
This presentation discusses what happened when the Hood River County Library in Oregon closed in 2010 and reopened later as an independent library district. It discusses some of the positive and negative (mostly positive) aspects of being a district.
This presentation was last given at the annual membership meeting of Josephine Community Libraries Inc. in Grants Pass on July 28, 2012.
This presentation was last given at the annual membership meeting of Josephine Community Libraries Inc. in Grants Pass on July 28, 2012.
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Presented by:
We are district (And so can you!)Or, the joys and tribulationsof being a library district
Buzzy NielsenLibrary Director
July 28, 2012This presentation is licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution
United States license. http://www.creativecommons.org
(with apologies to Stephen Colbert)
Photos c2011 Brian W. Robb. Used with permission.
A library like many others
Make that three libraries
Hood River
Parkdale
Cascade Locks
Hood River County, Oregon
When we were a County department
Health Department Human Resources
Elections
Commission onChildren & Families
Community Justice
Emergency Management
District Attorney
Forestry
Sheriff
Justice CourtBudget & FinanceAdministration
Parks & Buildings
Community Development
Public Works
Information Technology
Veteran's Services
A dwindling department
2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2009-10 2011-12 2012-13$0
$200,000
$400,000
$600,000
$800,000
$1,000,000
$1,200,000
$785,648
$690,820
$479,486
$0
Hood River County Library budget
Increasing costs, decreasing revenues
Declining revenue from sale of county-owned timber
Mounting PERS costs
And dwindling public service
2007-082008-09
2009-102009-10
2011-12*2012-13
010203040506070
65 65
34
0
2007-082008-09
2009-102009-10
2011-12*2012-13
0
5
10
15
2019 19
14
0
2007-082008-09
2009-102009-10
2011-12*2012-13
0
5
10
15
20
14 1411
0
Hood River
Parkdale Cascade Locks
Public service hours
A slight addition: The “D” word
Quick primer: library governance
Municipal libraries:Part of a larger governmental
entity (city, county, school, etc.)
Quick primer: library governance
County service districts:Districts with dedicated tax fundingthat are governed by their counties
Special districts:Districts with dedicated funding
and independent governing boards
*2011-12 hours figured are averaged as hours increased in January.
Things are better. Ish.
2007-082008-09
2009-102009-10
2011-12*2012-13
010203040506070
65 65
34
0
3443
2007-082008-09
2009-102009-10
2011-12*2012-13
0
5
10
15
2019 19
14
0
1720
2007-082008-09
2009-102009-10
2011-12*2012-13
0
5
10
15
20
14 1411
0
1720
Hood River
Parkdale Cascade Locks
Public service hours
*Budgeted amount
Numbers can be deceiving
2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2009-10 2011-12 2012-13*$0
$200,000
$400,000
$600,000
$800,000
$1,000,000
$1,200,000
$1,400,000
$785,648$690,820
$479,486
$0
$897,533
$1,268,993
Over 20% of the 2011-12 budget was grants and donations.One-third of the 2012-13 budget is carryover.
Hood River County Library (District) budget
Library district, take 1
Measure 14-37Creating a special library districtat the rate of $0.70 per $1,000
Why $0.70?
Governance● Policies● Boards● Missions● Long-range planning
Access● Branches● Electronic services● Hours● Outreach
Staff● Benefits● Credentials● Staff development● Volunteer vs paid
Materials& services
● Children's and adult programming
● Evaluation● Print and electronic offerings
Technology● Internet speed● Maintenance● Public computers and
wireless● Technology programming
Community involvement
● Civic involvement● Friends and Foundation● Partnerships● Volunteers
Standards for Oregon Public Libraries
What community wouldn't wanttheir libraries to be excellent?
Our community didn't
Measure 14-37Creating a special library districtat the rate of $0.70 per $1,000
FAILED54% to 46%
Hood River
Parkdale
Cascade Locks
Shuttered
And we made the news
Libraries in Hood River County Close
Oregon Public BroadcastingJuly 1, 2010
“”
Hood River County, OR Library to Close, After
Residents Vote Down District
Library JournalJune 4, 2010
“
”
Locking Up an Oregon Library, and Walking Away
The OregonianJuly 21, 2010
“”
Source: Yakley, C. (2010). "Summary of voter data"
A harsh way to learn invaluable info62%
54%60%
48%
38%43%
39%
38%
38%
35%41%
48% 31%
If you overlayed demographic maps of precincts with large Latino populations or many workers in the agricultural
sector, they would correspond almost perfectly with precincts
most against the district.
Salvation: November 2, 2010
Measure 14-39Creating a special library districtat the rate of $0.39 per $1,000
PASSED53% to 47%
Campaign
Salvation: November 2, 2010
Measure 14-39Creating a special library districtat the rate of $0.39 per $1,000
PASSED53% to 47%
FAILED54% to 46%
Measure 14-37Creating a special library districtat the rate of $0.70 per $1,000
Hood River County wouldnot have libraries right nowif they hadn't been closed.
But your mileage may vary.
Hard decisions
Should we rehire employees of the previous
county-run library?
Should we reopen all three branches?
Should we borrow against future tax revenue in order to open in July?
What does the community want its libraries to look like in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years?
What services can and can't we provide, now and
in the future?
Who should we hire?
The most important decisions
Library board:Who will we hire as director?
Library director:Who will I hire as staff?
*Budgeted amount
Out budget is awesome! ...
2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2009-10 2011-12 2012-13*$0
$200,000
$400,000
$600,000
$800,000
$1,000,000
$1,200,000
$1,400,000
$785,648$690,820
$479,486
$0
$897,533
$1,268,993
Hood River County Library (District) budget
... but look what else we have to do
Human resources
Finance
Maintenance
Information technology
Administration
Intergovernmental agreements
Legal services
Policies
Board governance
Collection development
Code of conduct
Exhibits
Financial managementIntellectual property
Employee healthcare benefits
Personnel
Internet and computer use Library card
Library directorevaluation
Meeting roomMission, vision, and values
Personal services
Public contracting
Privacy
Public records
Strategic goals
Volunteer
HRCLD is, in many ways, morelike JCLI (or LSSI in JacksonCounty) than the previous
county-run library.
County DistrictRetirement PERS 403(b)Unionized? Yes No
Health insurance Negotiated Monthly capsStep increases Automatic Merit-based
Volunteers 29 90+Volunteer hours 2,251 6,000+
Volunteer jobs Limited Anything we canget them to do!
Personnel differences
Increasing costs, decreasing revenues
Declining revenue from sale of county-owned timber
Mounting PERS costs
And we're reaching out
GIMPImage editor
ShutterScreenshot utility
LibreOfficeImpress
Presentation program
Thank you
This presentation was made using open source software:
ChromiumWeb browser
Linux MintOperating system
View this presentation online:http://www.slideshare.net/hrcld
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