Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 4, 1993 TAG: 9311040400
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ADRIENNE PETTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In 1992, it hosted about 150,000 visitors and circulated almost 190,000 items.
If the library weren't used so heavily, the books might shove each other off the shelves.
"It is just jammed," said Anne Marie Green, director of community relations for Roanoke County. "There's not room to put one more book in there. Fortunately, a lot more are in circulation, because I don't think they could house them otherwise."
Lousy shelf space and dwindling funds for acquiring new books burden public libraries across the country; they often are the first services to feel the squeeze of budget cuts, says George Needham, executive director of the Chicago-based Public Library Association.
The Hollins Library is tackling one of these problems. The county recently unveiled a model for a larger library that will triple the size of the current building, and allow more breathing room for books, more meeting space for community groups, a local-history room and improved lighting.
A bond referendum passed last year will provide $1.5 million for the expansion, during which the building will remain open.
"There will be more room for the people and the books to make the connection they need to make," said Spencer Watts, director of the Hollins branch.
Anyone who frequents the library can tell you how friendly and accommodating the librarians are. JoAnn Michael, who teaches remedial reading at Burlington School, said that her kids love to visit the Hollins branch.
"The old adage that children need to be seen and not heard at the library doesn't hold there," she said. "It's an active library for young people."
But library users also bemoan the long lines for computerized card catalogs, the toppling stacks of books and the lack of roomy tables where students can spread out their books and study.
"It is pretty crowded," said Stephanie A. West, who often darts around the corner to the Hollins branch after getting off from work at ITT Corp. "You pretty much can't have more than one person in an aisle at a time."
Doris Cox, who visits the library with her husband at least once a week, said she hopes the extra space will allow the library to broaden its collection.
Watts, the library director, also wants an increase in book acquisitions to accompany the expansion of the building. But he shudders at the bleak outlook for state aid. Only $136,000 was allotted this year for book acquisitions at the four main libraries and two part-time libraries in the county. Four years ago, when books were up to 6 percent less expensive, the county received $220,000 for new books.
"Usage continues to increase but our ability to buy the materials people want is declining," Watts said. "Our hope is that as we build this new building, the economy will improve, and with that, our book collection will improve," particularly for books on science, technology, finance and medicine which need frequent updating, he said.
Balancing the books continues to challenge the nation's public libraries, which face both higher demand for service and budgets that are often flat or shrinking.
Needham of the Public Library Association said it is impossible to keep national figures on decreases in funds for libraries because funding sources vary from locality to locality. But anecdotal evidence supports the claim that libraries are striving to keep pace as information is increasingly stored in more expensive formats such as video and online databases.
In Virginia alone, funding for the library system in Fairfax County, the largest system in the state, was cut by $2.4 million this year - and 23 percent over two years, according to the American Library Association.
As a result, 50 staff positions are vacant, hours at the system's 22 branches have been reduced by almost 10 percent and there is a freeze on buying non-print materials.
About 80 library users in Roanoke County have organized to make sure that shrinking state funds won't threaten their library system. Last spring, frequent library users across the county started "Friends of the Library" to raise public awareness about library services, solicit corporate and private donations, and raise funds through "meet the author" book signings and other activities.
So far, the group has sponsored a puppet show and pizza party for children who'd reached a certain reading level at the Hollins branch. Watts said the library would not have been able to fund itself.
Perhaps similar groups can offset the lack of public funds. Needham notes that although many localities are willing to dole out money to renovate facilities, libraries are left high and dry when it comes to purchasing books.
"A lot of places are willing to put money into bricks and mortar and not much into operating money," he said. "It's the services the building provides that's important."
by CNB