Library Growth over the Decade

The Mid-Hudson quarterly publication for Trustees, Across the Board, has many interesting statistics concerning changes in the system over the decade from 1998 to 2008. I was a volunteer and a new Board member in 1998 and just reading the statistical portrait of the system brought back memories of a Pleasant Valley Free Library that was barely able to operate, and which could not have done so without a dedicated corps of volunteers. We did not have enough money to keep a Director very long, and the staff at the time often worked without a Director as the Board searched for someone with an MLS degree who was willing to work for peanuts.

Of course we were not alone. Larger library districts always had means to allow stable funding by taxpayers, but until the passage of chapter 414 in 1995, small free-association libraries depended on the kindness of others--Town Boards, citizen donations, and fund-raising activities such as book sales--to grow. Because the voters of Pleasant Valley have supported two Chapter 414 campaigns, the Library has had stable funding that has enabled the growth of the past ten years.

One of the statistics that struck me the most was that 40% of Mid-Hudson libraries have expanded their buildings during the decade and three more are in process of doing it. Our library should be in that 40%, but so far we have fallen short in our expansion plans. Recent fundraisers have helped, but it is clear we need to move faster than we have so far.

Although citizen support have enabled libraries in the Mid-Hudson group to more than double their income (somewhat misleading because general financial inflation accounted for 32% of the rise), the amazing figures, helped by a small population growth in the region, are the 55% increase in circulation and the 73% increase in program attendance. Libraries continue to grow faster than almost anything (except maybe medical costs).