The Kindle is here

Forbes now has the Amazon Kindle ebook reader and it is in circulation. I have tried it and thought it was great! You should try it. You can get on the waiting list for it at Forbes' Arts & Music Desk on the second floor.
Read all about it at:
http://www.forbeslibrary.org/news/Kindle.shtml

Services to be Cut in FY09

Services to be Cut at Forbes Library

A $40,000 shortfall in City funding for the next fiscal year means that Forbes Library will have to reduce services to patrons beginning July 1st. At a time when usage continues to grow, it is very difficult to offer less library access to the public. When the economy is bad, people use the public library more. Rather than rent a movie, they’ll borrow it for free from the library. Rather than buy a book or subscribe to a magazine, they’ll borrow it for free from the library. We would like to be offering more to the community when they need us, but instead we are forced to offer less.
Specific cuts include reductions to Outreach deliveries, genealogy and local history access, public internet computers, and staff at circulation desks.
Outreach service which delivers books to nursing homes and individuals unable to come to the library will be cut in half. This means that deliveries will only be made to a limited number of residents at selected nursing homes. This population is already too isolated because they can’t get out and about – it is terrible to deny them this access to books too.
The very popular Hampshire Room for Local History which was open only Friday afternoons and all day Saturday, will now be open only Friday and Saturday afternoons. Genealogists and local historians depend on the information held in our collection for their research. We weren’t open enough hours to satisfy them before, so reducing the hours means even longer waits to get access to the materials they need.
Part of this round of budget cuts includes eliminating the entire funding for technology, which increasingly rivals books for an information and entertainment source at the library. The Forbes library community is very tech-savvy and library patrons have come to expect cutting edge technology services such as Playaway MP3 players, Kindle e-book readers, downloadable books and videos as well as access to our databases from home or office. Without sufficient funding, it is impossible for the library to keep current with the services that the community desires. Since the City appropriation for technology needs did not even cover the cost of updating the library’s seventy computers, Forbes had already launched an annual fund drive to raise money for computers, software, and accessories for the library public. This fund drive was intended to supplement the inadequate City appropriation for the library’s technology needs. Now the fund drive is even more vital since it has to make up for the loss of City funding.
The final reduction will be a library wide reduction of personnel staffing the library’s circulation desks. This means that check-out lines will be longer, books will be put back on the shelves less quickly, and staff will have less time to help library patrons with their questions. The Forbes staff is committed to providing our patrons with great customer service. Reducing staff makes this harder and more stressful for them as they try to continue to serve the public as well as in the past.
Rather than eliminate just one whole service, we have tried to spread out the reductions and put the squeeze on many areas. It is still just as painful overall, but we hope less so to individual library users.

More on the FY09 Library Operating Budget

We at Forbes are now looking at the cuts that will have to be made in library services for the next fiscal year. The city is requesting a $36,000 to $50,000 cut in the library's operating budget. Possible cuts include:

Funds for computer replacements and upgrades
Service to Outreach patrons
Hours in the Hampshire Room for Local History
Personnel to staff the customer service desks

These are serious cuts with high negative impact on patron services.

More to follow . . .

FY09 Budget

It is budget time in Northampton. Forbes Library representatives met with Mayor Higgins and Finance Manager Pile last week. FY09 is going to be a very hard year and the library is looking at the largest budget cuts in recent history. Forbes will receive only a 1% increase over last year's city appropriation. That amount does not begin to cover increases in energy costs and energy related services and contract mandated personnel raises. A 1% increase means an actual cut of $50,000 in the library's operating budget. We are now looking at what we can eliminate to meet that $50,000 number. Last year Forbes patrons lost Sunday hours. What services will be lost this year?

Forbes Launches Annual Fund Drive!

Forbes Library is embarking on their first annual fund drive to raise money to improve technology resources at the library. “The library needs to increase technology offerings to library users to keep up with ever growing demand for computer access and to be able to offer the innovations in software and devices required as technology continues to change.” says director Janet Moulding.

During the long rang planning process, the library conducted a survey and found out just how important computer and internet access is to the community. For 22% of people responding to the survey, the number one reason they use the library is for a computer with access to the internet. Computer access at the library bridges the “digital divide” for those that do not have computers at home.

Technology has allowed the library to deliver information and services to patrons wherever they are any time of the day or night. The Forbes library community is very tech-savvy and library patrons have come to expect cutting edge technology services such as Playaway MP3 players, Kindle e-book readers, downloadable books and videos as well as access to our databases from home or office. Without sufficient funding, it is impossible for the library to keep current with the services that the community desires.

Even with over seventy computers for staff and public use, the library’s computer resources are barely keeping up with demand. And even without increasing the number of computers, updating the current ones is very expensive. Industry standards mandate upgrading each computer every three to four years. To keep up with this alone would cost a minimum of $17,000 annually. This does not take into account maintaining and replacing printers and wireless accessories, software upgrades and all the other expenses associated with modern technology. In fiscal year 2008 the library received $10,000 from the city for all technology needs which does not begin to cover the actual technology costs to maintain the level of service Northampton needs.

The library maintains four microfilm reader/printers, the newest of which was purchased in 2000. These machines are used nearly continuously by students and researchers viewing reels of newspapers including back issues of the Daily Hampshire Gazette. These elderly microfilm machines are not up to current digital standards and regularly break down, requiring expensive repairs and causing frustration to library users. Microfilm Reader/printers cost $15,000 each, which is far beyond current library budgets.

Computers have changed the way Forbes Library does business and the services it provides. Technology is as essential to library operations as books and staff. The Trustees of Forbes Library have established a technology endowment fund that sometime in the future will provide revenue to support the library’s electronic needs. For now, money raised through the 2008 Annual Fund Drive will be used for computer and software upgrades, laptop computers, a color document scanner/printer/copier, downloadable books and videos, and digital microfilm reader/printers. This year the library is hoping to raise $25,000 for technology. Future annual funds will focus on other areas of the library including Special Collections and the Children’s Department and eventually Technology again. More information about the drive and online donations are available by visiting the library’s award-winning website, www.forbeslibrary.org or by calling 413-587-1017.

Speak up for Forbes

On Wednesday, March 12th, the Community Preservation Committee will meet to hear public comment on funding requests they have received. From 7:00 to 8:00pm in the City Council Chambers behind City Hall you will have a chance to tell them you think they should approve the Forbes Library exterior wall restoration project. The project is described below. Please contact me at 587-1016 if you have any questions.

BUILDING ENVELOPE RESTORATION PROJECT


Two of the Forbes Library building’s four elevations have been cleaned, repaired, and repointed in city-funded projects completed in June 2006. During the work on the exterior walls, it was discovered that due to years of water penetration through the cracked mortar, the stability of the load bearing exterior walls had been seriously compromised. Both the engineer and architect performing the wall strength testing felt that the stones were so loose that if the building were to be hit by an earthquake that the north and west walls would collapse. Every year that the walls are unsealed, the mortar holding the stones together continues to deteriorate, making the exterior walls more fragile and the building’s interior more vulnerable.

Forbes Library now requests funds to complete the process of repairing, restoring, and cleaning the rest of the building. Since the interior renovation and half of the exterior renovation have been completed, it is even more vital that the exterior be properly sealed to protect the walls and ceilings of the interior and the stability of the load bearing exterior walls. With half of the building cleaned and half of it covered with one hundred years of accumulated grime, it is obvious at a glance that the Forbes Library restoration is a project in need of completion.

This project would also replace the frames and glass for all the windows in the building and repair damaged slates and flashing on the roof. Forbes Library was built in 1893 and most of its 133 windows are original to that construction. Some of the windows no longer close securely, are leaky, and have little insulation value. Much energy is wasted through these single pane windows as the building is heated in the winter and cooled in the summer. The slate roof is over one hundred years old and although there have been occasional repairs made, more are needed.

The new windows, which would meet state building code energy standards and historic preservation standards as befits this historic building, would use U.44 insulated glass or better to (a) help preserve the historic collections inside the building and (b) greatly improve energy efficiency. Repairing the roof would prevent leaks which damage interior walls and ceilings and penetrate the mortar of the exterior walls.

In 2006, this project was approved by the City Capital Improvements Committee, but not funded.

Budget Time

The process to determine the Northampton city budget has begun. Forbes Library has been asked to submit to the city a level services budget, which means the cost of FY08 services at FY09 prices with no services added or removed. That budget would be an actual increase of about $50,000 over the FY08 appropriation of $1,030,209 or nearly 5%. Thsi does not add any more open hours or services to patrons. It just covers increases in utility costs, vendor price increases, and contractually agreed upon staff raises.

This is only the first step in the budget cycle. The library's budget and coming year's operations will depend on what is to follow in the process to determine the city's budget.