After May 1, there will be only one library in Westbrook. The closure of the Warren Memorial Library, in combination with the recession, will shortly have as a consequence an enormous increase in the volume of activity at the Walker Memorial Library. To deal with this, the city administration proposes a budget that has a net decrease in the library staff. This is neither reasonable nor feasible, and we ask the citizens of the city to tell the Westbrook City Council so.
Last year, the Warren library lent out 29,271 items. The Walker library lent 56,178 items. Warren’s load represents an increase of 52 percent in the volume in circulation that Walker will handle – with fewer staff. The Walker library will handle a 37 percent increase in interlibrary loans – with fewer staff. There are hundreds of children formerly served by the Warren library’s outstanding children’s program who will be served by the Walker Library – with fewer staff. Is this reasonable?
The Warren Memorial Library’s computers have been full for most every hour of every day, as have Walker’s. Is there reason to believe that the one reference librarian on the Walker staff, who is already overtaxed, can handle the additional traffic?
Nationally and locally there has been a significant increase in the use of libraries. The increase is borne of the necessity of using library computers as technology lifelines for millions of people who have cut Internet accounts out of their budgets due to job loss or fear of job loss. Many people who used to subscribe to newspapers and periodicals are now reading the library’s copies. Unemployed people in search of community are using the library more. And people who are being far more careful with money are borrowing books, CDs and DVDs instead of buying them. The New York Times reported recently that not only is the volume of work in libraries increasing, but so too is the intensity of interaction that librarians are having with their patrons. The intensity stems from the desperation that many out-of-work people feel about their lives.
Libraries across the country are struggling to cope with the higher use and with the higher intensity of patron contact. Here in Westbrook, at the Walker library, in addition to the surge in workload created by the recession, we are adding an increase in workload of between a third and one half. It is plainly unreasonable to expect that Walker is going to be able to handle this increase in workload with a decrease in staff.
The Walker board has deep respect for the fiscal crisis this city is experiencing. The task that the mayor, city administrator, and council face to manage declining revenues and increasing service demands is sobering. Our respect for the difficulty of this process motivated us to quickly agree with the cuts to the library staff and budget a couple of months ago, before we learned of Warren’s pending closure, cuts that required us to cease operating on Saturdays. We felt we ought to absorb cuts, as our colleagues in police, fire, public services, and City Hall staff have.
The situation is different now. The Walker staff level – before the cuts – was among the lowest in Greater Portland on a per capita basis. With the closure of the Warren library, the Walker library has a literal tsunami of work coming at it.
If Walker’s staffing is cut at this critical time, its talented and hardworking staff will work their hearts out, but will face an almost impossible task. The high standard of service the public has come to expect – from both libraries – will have to be compromised.
While the need is overwhelming, the remedy the Walker board seeks is not. We ask the City Council to restore a half-time teen services position, and add an additional 20 hours per week for youth services. This is a reasonable remedy to an otherwise unreasonable workload. We ask the citizens of Westbrook to talk to the City Council to let them know that the need is for a tiny augmentation of staffing at this critical juncture, and not a cut in staffing.
Mike Miles is the chairman of the Board of Regents and Trustees of the Walker Memorial Library.
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