Library Pushes Through Funding Woes

Back in 2004, a referendum was proposed by the city to build a new library for Crystal Lake. The measure failed, and that left the library with a difficult challenge—how to keep up with the city's growing readership and still provide library patrons with good service.

The answer was Project Shoehorn.

Developed as a short-term solution to address space shortages, the project, completed in 2007, was intended to buy the library five to eight years in its existing space without expansion, library spokesperson Linda Price said.

"We've upgraded technology, moved adult services to one floor and increased shelving from 16,000 to 17,500 liner feet," she said.

While not the perfect solution, Price said it is a workable short-term plan.

"It bought us time to continue to function," she said.

She said in 1999, the library was rated a top 10 library by Hennen American Public Library Ratings in the 25,000-49,999 population category and was again named a top 10 in 2008.

However, as with most short-term solutions, it does come with challenges. In order to make use of all available space, books are stacked on the lowest and highest shelves. Shorter patrons can be challenged by the high shelves and older patrons by the lower shelves.

"We don't have a lot of space," Price said. "This is true both inside and outside our building.  In addition to the space constraints within the building, we are also challenged by limited parking.  Sometimes patrons have to drive around the parking lot several times before finding a spot.  Patrons have reported that they have occasionally left in frustration due to being unable to find a parking spot."

Price also said that part of the library's collection is housed in the basement of the building, which does not have public access in order to conserve space. A patron might have to wait a day or so before a book in storage may be collected, because there is typically not enough service staff available to leave the library floor to retrieve the materials the patron has requested.

The library staff has also been stretched in recent years, due to higher usage at the library due to a weakened economy.  The library's door count has gone from 326,577 to 379,288 in the past two years, an increase of 52,711.  Circulation at the library has gone from 895,381 to 1,068,876, an increase of 173,495 in two years.

The library is also being challenged economically due to the closing of the North Suburban Library System, which closed this past May. The NSLS was a system of 49 public libraries, funded by the state.

"Eighty percent of NSLS's funding came from an annual grant from the Illinois General Assembly," Price said.

Last year, the NSLS did not receive 42 percent of the 80 percent promised, leaving the libraries to figure out how to finance van delivery service at the local level.

Price said the NSLS's services include reciprocal borrowing, consulting and advocacy, workshops for staff and trustees, and networking groups. She said what hurt most however was losing the system's van delivery service.

The van delivery service delivers books between its members. For example, if a patron wants a book that the library does not own, the library will borrow that book from another member library that is then delivered to the library by van.

Lacking the van services means a patron will have no access to materials the library does not own.  This is a particular challenge for library patrons because the library does not have adequate space to accommodate a wide range of materials. Crystal Lake Public Library was the third highest user of the 49 libraries in the NSLS system because of its inability to house all of the resources its patrons requested.

Price said at present the van delivery services is still up and running, but that's because the libraries in the system are paying for it out of their own funds.  Crystal Lake has paid $12,244 to keep the van delivery service running.  These funds are due to run out sometime in October. 

The library leaders of the 49 NSLS libraries are working to determine the logical next step if the state funds don't materialize. The state has announced they will not cut funding to library systems in the future, but the systems have still not received the funding from the previous fiscal year.

Price said the community has been understanding "and wonderful," and library director Kathryn Martens said she agrees.

Martens said in face of the reduction in funding, space and delivery changes, the public has been "very supportive." She said library patrons have often expressed their gratitude for the library's creative ways to remain fiscally responsible in spite of its ongoing challenges.

"We've had patrons volunteer to help by offering to drive the delivery van," Martens said. "One 14-year-old girl even offered to have a lemonade stand to help finance our van delivery and to expand our space.  Although there would be legal and management  implications if we were to let patrons follow through with some of these initiatives, we are touched by the community's support for their library."