12/3/2007 3:22:00 PM Doom and gloom inspires action
By Sol Lieberman
Let's say the carburetor on your 1935 Plymouth PJ is acting up. Whatcha gonna do?
Maybe a friendly wager about an obscure 1794 U.S. Patent requires settling. Where ya gonna look?
What if you "accidentally" sold your daughter's favorite book of fairy tales at this summer's garage sale? Who ya gonna call?
If you said ghostbusters, you are wrong. Funny, but wrong.
The answer for all of the above is the Minneapolis Public Library (MPL), which has the largest collection of unique titles in the state and is accessible to Hennepin County Library (HCL) cardholders thanks to the Metropolitan Library Service Agency.
Everything from century-old auto repair manuals and patent records, to historic children's literature, extensive world language collections and the largest picture file of any library outside of New York is accessible, according to a February report by the Minneapolis Library Advisory Committee.
Be a shame to see it go, no?
Well if everything goes according to plan there will be nothing to worry about, because as of Jan. 1, 2008, the MPL and our beloved HCL will fly the same flag.
The merger of library systems comes in response to the floundering MPL.
Funding issues have haunted MPL since 1994 and it all came to a head in 2003 when $3 million in Local Government Aid to Minneapolis was cut, according to the Minneapolis Library Committee report.
To balance the budget in 2004, the MPL Trustees reduced service hours by 35 percent and laid off 30 percent of the staff, the report stated.
The balancing act continued in 2006, and the Trustees decided to shutter three libraries, and trim the remaining 12 libraries to five-day weeks.
But what happened to the $140 million MPL received in the 2000 referendum?
That money was restricted to capital improvements, like the new Central Library in downtown Minneapolis, and could not be applied to staffing and other frivolous operating expenses like electricity.
Thankfully, the doom and gloom forecasts inspired action. For a change, the Governor governed, commissioners commissioned and some library board members (from Minneapolis) even decided to vote themselves out of existence.
But there are concerns.
"It's a financial bail out," said former Wayzata Mayor Barry Betit at a Nov. 27 public hearing.
"I fear for a lesser product. Will I have a great library system or just a bigger one?" he wondered.
Concerns about economic viability are understandable and the powers that be are working to build a viable financing structure.
To start, the city of Minneapolis will cover the projected MPL operating deficit for 2008, and continue contributing annually during the next 10 years.
During the next three years, the city of Minneapolis also will cover any increases in library hours and the reopening of the Roosevelt, Southeast and Webber Park libraries.
The merger also will open the new HCL to a broader and burgeoning section of taxpayers, which will grow as the consolidation streamlines.
Some are concerned about decreased accessibility to titles due to a more segmented catalogue, as well as other hypothetical hiccups.
And we shall see, its passage is still hypothetical at this point.
But if the merger does go through, 41 city and suburban libraries (including the three previously shuddered) will unite as the new Hennepin County Library boasting more than 5 million books, 1,600 computers, ubiquitous internet and a multimedia collection offering titles in 40 world languages. Ta. Da.
