Navigating Budget Reductions for Public Libraries
In September 2022, the Mid-Continent Public Library’s Board of Trustees approved a tax cut that reduced revenue by an estimated $4.3 million. This forced library staff and decision-makers to make tough choices, including cutting programming, reducing open hours, and slashing the budget for online resources. I had only been in my role as Electronic Resources Librarian for about six months when I was faced with the daunting task of eliminating 20 percent of our budget. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, take a deep breath. Public libraries have weathered many storms, and I believe they’ll continue to do so. If you’re responsible for major budget cuts, I encourage you to follow the steps that helped me navigate this challenge.
- Gather information – Dig through past documentations, old budgets, and old evaluations. Talk to everyone who was a part of the decision-making process in the past. Learn from your colleagues. Ask questions. Look at the data.
- Develop criteria for evaluation – As a team, decide what qualities are most important. In my budget, I was evaluating online resources. Top of the list for us was high quality, return on investment, uniqueness, and user interface. It was important to invest in online resources that our customers needed and wanted to use. If your library doesn’t have a clear collection development policy then now is the time to refine it.
- Talk to your vendors – The best time to negotiate is when you’re desperate. You have no choice. Some, but not all, vendors will be willing to negotiate discounts for libraries facing the realities of politics in their area. It’s important to establish good relationships with your vendor. Be open and honest. Explain the situation and see what they’re willing or able to do in order to keep your business.
- Talk to your subject area specialists – If you’re a large library system that includes multiple areas of specialty then seek their input. Do your youth services librarians depend on something that you’re thinking about cutting? Do your business librarians have extra cushion in a certain area that they don’t need? If you’re trying to decide between eliminating X or Y is there someone who can explain which is best and why?
- Brace for impact – Make sure that staff know what’s happening and have a clear message to communicate to the public. No one likes cutting the budget. Make sure that your systems’ librarians are able to answer customer complaints.
- Don’t take it personally: When I was forced to make tough choices, I knew I was going to get complaints from unhappy customers. I took their criticism and let it roll off like water on a ducks’ back. I trusted my decisions and the research and time I had put into creating a functional budget.
The public library landscape is often shaped by current politics and fluctuating funding. While budgets have been tight for some time, they won’t remain so forever. Challenges come in waves—ride them with resilience. Stay the course, and trust in the lasting good your library provides and will continue to offer.
Tags: crisismanagementatthelibrary, librarybudgetreductionstrategies, publiclibrarybudgets, publiclibraryfundingcuts, resilientpubliclibraries
