by Gloria Meraz
I hear game shows are very popular these days. With your indulgence, I would like to capitalize on that trend and pose a few 50/50 chance questions. True or false, over the last 30 years, libraries have learned to do more with less? True or false, regardless of shortages in funding and resources, libraries (and more precisely the librarians who run them) manage to create stable, user-friendly information centers for their communities? Now, here is the trick question: True or false, elected officials offer more financial support to institutions that are doing well and seem to be in no imminent danger than other public organizations that are in some kind of crisis? Sadly, the answer is false, a situation that makes little sense to us logical and practical minded librarians. From the standpoint of an elected official, who must choose to allocate resources based on the perception of need, the answer almost makes sense.
This conclusion then begs the question, Is the library community a victim of its own hard work and efficiency? The answer is yes and no. Certainly, our profession and libraries must perform effectivelyno one gains if they do not. However, if we are unable to secure additional resources to, say, move us higher than a ranking of 46th in the nation in terms of per capita state funding, we certainly are not being recognized for all our hard work. We have all known this for a very long time. Why then, have so many members of the library community hesitated in publicly talking about the problems in their libraries?
The answer, though complicated, centers on the mandate to show governing authorities that funding is being spent wisely. And, of course, no one wants to appear less than totally successful or overshadow all of the good work occurring in libraries. Simply put, libraries (all public institutions for that matter) need to show that they are successful enterprises. That imperative leaves the library community in somewhat of a conundrum: we need to show that we are strong, effective institutions, yet we need to show also that we are in a crisis. How can we do this?
We can begin by being confident in our reputations. From study after study, we have learned that the public has more trust in libraries than almost any other public institution. The vast majority of librarians proudly confide that their libraries have excellent reputations in their cities, counties, campuses, and organizations. Our bosses know that we are doing a good job. We must overcome our own trepidation and show our public what we are unable to offer them. We must illustrate our statewide statistics with evidence of the shortages, limitations, and crisis in our own libraries. We do not diminish ourselves by showing that we cannot meet all our patrons' needs with existing resources. By doing so, we show that we really are dependent on the support we demand from our public and elected officials. Upon hearing that some libraries could not provide summer reading programs because they could not afford air conditioning, one legislative aide confided, "Don't just talk about how great reading programs are; show me a picture of kids sweating trying to read books. That'll get my attention."
As the Association prepares for the next legislative session, we need to find new ways of capturing the attention of our elected officials and the public to whom they are accountable. Over the next few months, TLA will work hard to get your storiesand not just the good ones. As much as we need to hear about all of the wonderful services your library provides, we need also to hear about the services you are unable to give your communities. We need to show our elected officials the impact of neglecting our libraries; and, we need to help our constituentsand theirsarticulate the library crisis. We are 46th in the nation in public library funding. College libraries receive only about 2 cents of every dollar spent on higher education. The average copyright date of a school library book is 1980. We are in a crisis. Let's not suffer silently.