Money Issues

Colleen Williams writes "Lesko Loves Libraries has been added to GrantsList.

It is worthwhile for school librarians to browse past posts at "grantslist" since many are repeated on an annual basis. As time permits, high school contests (that benefit school and student) and fundraising ideas are linked."

The Californian reports on a clash last evening at a candlelight vigil for the three Salinas CA libraries due to close in mid-June. City Councilman Sergio Sanchez, who cast the single vote of opposition to the libraries' closure, said Salinas residents should practice civil disobedience and physically take over the city's three library branches to keep them from closing. Mayor Anna Caballero, who blamed the state for raiding local revenue sources, called for constituents to stop complaining and start contributing, which led to protesters showering the Steinbeck statue in front of the library with dollar bills.

It's obviously a tense situation with several factions in opposition on how to handle the loss of the libraries. Some staffers have chosen not to support the Library Friends, as it is the Friends contention that the libraries must close before they reopen.

SEO Guy :-) writes "
The Black Arm Bands weren't enough, apparently. The Moterey Herald Reports During the same week Salinas gave layoff notices to its librarians, Salinas High School students have mobilized to raise money to try to save the city's libraries and recreation centers.

On Tuesday, the school's chapter of the Health Occupation Students Association began selling lime-green $3 bracelets stamped with "Save Salinas" during their lunch break. The students are also selling $2 teal-colored silicone bracelets for tsunami victim relief efforts and, after just a few days, the students are ready to order thousands more of the hot-selling bracelets.

Other area schools have joined in the effort. Everett Alvarez, Alisal and Carmel High Schools, and Washington Middle School will add thousands more bracelets to the group's next order, which will lower the cost per bracelet from $1.90 to 50 cents."

Cortez writes "The proverbial Anonymous Donor has really enhanced five lucky Indiana Libraries: Courier Journal

Conditions of the donation specify that the donor's gender not be recognized, but the story's headline clues us in.

search-engines-web.com spotted a rather small blurb on an interesting move from Ohio. Because of recent thefts at the Clermont County library, users will now be required to have their picture taken.

Last year, a woman was convicted of not returning $10,000 worth of material to the library.

Also last year, a man gave a phony address and number, checked out 3,000 dollars worth of material, and never returned it.

From now on, Clermont County library officials say everyone applying for a new card will have his or her picture taken, which will then kept on file.

On New Years, The Library just finished it's Amnesty for Overdue Books program [Link].

Anonymous Patron writes "ONN. Ohio News Now: Wagnalls Library Auctions Rockwell The sale of two Norman Rockwell paintings for about $800,000 will help reduce the debt of an ailing Ohio library built by the family that started the Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary.

Christie's in New York auctioned "Grandpa's Christmas Visit" and "Rewards for Patience," and Wagnalls Memorial Library will receive most of the proceeds.

The library's board of trustees authorized the auction of paintings from its collection to help solve its financial woes.

Carl Spencer, executive director of the foundation that runs the Wagnalls Memorial Library, has said most of the proceeds will be used to reduce the library's debt. Board members will meet next week to decide exactly how the money is used."

search-engine-web guy directs you to this article in the Des Moines Register. Bill Gates is giving a $749,000 grant to help Iowa public libraries close the technology divide. The grant includes funding for training and other needs beyond the hardware, which is sometimes forgotten by library philanthropists.

search-engines-web.com send us a phillyburbs.com Piece on The Bucks County Free Library (in PA) who is waiving its late fees for two weeks starting today, in advance of a doubling of most fines early next year.
The county libraries now bring in about $250,000 in late fees. Hours at the county libraries seven branches were reduced last year because of slashed funding from the state. In 2003, Harrisburg cut its aid to public libraries throughout Pennsylvania - including a cut of about $1.4 million in Bucks from a budget that had been about $9 million.

Bob writes "Southfield Michigan opened a stunning new public library this past year, http://www.sfldlib.org/virtual/tourhome.html, and true to the maxim the users did come. In reponse to the increase in users, the library has moved to restrict out-of-district users:
http://www.freep.com/news/cfp/8/xlib23x_20041223.h tm"

Anonymous Patron writes "One From Philippine Daily Inquirer: A proposal in Congress seeking to impose a 10-percent value-added tax (VAT) on the "sale, importation, printing and publication of books" but exempts magazines and newspapers, has drawn flak from a government oversight body.

The National Book Development Board (NBDB) said House Bill No. 3105, which proposes, among other things, to repeal the VAT exemption enjoyed by book publishers and importers for the last nine years, would further discourage reading."

An anonymous patron dropped by to let us know that some churches in the UK have been buying books for local libraries.

As part of this year's drive to find £35m worth of savings in the council's overall budget, about £100,000 has been lopped from the amount being spent on new books.

Members of Churches Together in Selsdon and Addington have decided to do their bit to address the problem by raising about £650, which has been spent on buying books from the Christian Book Trust.

The collection of books, with a Christian or general social affairs theme, will be presented to the library on Monday.

I suspect that like most donors they didn't consider contributing to the cost of processing their gifts.

Anonymous Patron writes "One From The Rocky Mountain News spinds a sad tale for the public library of America. Put simply, the book on libraries around the country in recent years has been this: Too many users, not enough cash. The library system at Portland, Ore., had to reduce the hours it was open. Charlotte, N.C., struggles to get new materials in the wake of a money crunch. Up until late last month, Seattle's bookmobile stalled. Buffalo's libraries may have to close, and so on..."

Anonymous Patron writes "The Guardian has a Suprising or Sad Story on restrictive user fees Most UK public libraries have to do deal with on their subscriptions to online encyclopedias and digital archives. The publicity problem stems from the way libraries pay for their online resources. Academic libraries tend to negotiate on the basis that anyone can access these services at any time, a luxury denied to the public library service. "An awful lot of the contracts provide for a certain number of simultaneous users," says Tim Buckley-Owen of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. "This puts libraries in the invidious position of not publicising their online services because they can't afford to meet the demand that would follow."

There is currently no prospect of a central solution for English libraries, as there is in Scotland and Wales, but the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) - which also oversees the People's Network initiative - is working to produce a basic agreement that will give library authorities a head start in the negotiation process."

search-engines-web.com points us to Demand for library is prevalent in central Minnesota from The MN St. Cloud Times. They say The demand for libraries is high in central Minnesota. Milaca-area residents are breaking ground on a new library next spring. A group in Cold Spring wants to expand its branch. Residents in St. Martin and Sartell want one. And St. Cloud voters this month OK'd a referendum to pay for a $30 million library.

Residents in Sauk Rapids, Holdingford, Zimmerman and Maple Lake also have expressed interest in beefing up library services.

That demand doesn't even include the number of local branches that want to extend their hours, the St. Cloud Times reported in its Tuesday editions.

Anonymous Patron writes "The New York Daily News reports state education czar Richard Mills said New Yorkers should stop cheering when library services are restored and start demanding that lawmakers increase library funding. The $90 million budget for public libraries, which are an arm of the state Education Department, was sliced by 5% this year, he said. It has not been bumped upward since 1997, when it was raised by 5%."

CNET Reports On Monday, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), the not-for-profit organization that administers E-rate funds on behalf of the Federal Communications Commission, issued 198 letters to schools and libraries, promising funding that totals $23.4 million, said Mel Blackwell, vice president of external communications for the group. Additional letters will be issued once more funds have been collected, he added.

Further to our previous story about libraries in Salinas (CA)closing, the Friends of the Library there (FOSPL) are starting a campaign to reverse the closing of three public libraries next January. A "no" vote on taxes is forcing the city to close them down, but the FOL hopes to reopen them as soon as possible.

The Californian tells us that the Friends are working on a few different approaches to remedy the situation, but that they are realistic, and as FOL President Lynne Steele says, "With only 120 members, {we}cannot on our own persuade voters to approve a tax. We need to form an alliance. We need to come together and work together to get this specific funding."

Wouldn't it be nice if one of those big publishers, maybe Penguin-Putnam contributed some of the profit from the sale of Steinbeck's books to raise money for the library?

http://search-engines-web.com/ writes sends this follow-up on the Salinas, CA situation. http://www.theksbwchannel.com/news/3926435/detail. html

-- All three libraries in the city of Salinas will be closing, the City Council announced at Tuesday night's meeting. City leaders said they were forced to make the drastic cuts because voters failed to pass Measures A and B, the sales and utility tax increases on the November ballot. The measures would have raised $10 million -- enough to save the libraries. The libraries will close July 1. "The bottom line is that without the ballot measures, we don't have the resources to continue to provide the level of service we have now," Salinas Mayor Anna Caballero said.

twistedlibrarian writes "The late Frank Z. Ringalo, a former Methuen firefighter who preferred to read in a corner rather than join his uniformed brothers in a hand of cards during down time, has left a $1.2 million bequest to the Nevins Memorial Library."


Boston.com "

twistedlibrarian writes "Salinas' city manager said Wednesday he is prepared to close libraries and cut into public safety, but some City Council members said they are searching for ways to salvage precious city services.

On Nov. 16, City Manager Dave Mora said he will recommend that the City Council proceed with closing the city's three libraries and four of its recreation centers, and that the council approve cuts to police and fire services."

The Californian "