These are exciting times for public libraries in America. According to a recent Gallup poll, the library is the most common cultural outing for Americans; more people went to their public library in 2019 than the movies. Locally, almost 5,100 people visited a Central Arkansas Library System location every day of 2019. Another 2,700 came to our website daily.
We try to invest wisely when offering materials and resources desired by library customers. One of the challenges we face as stewards of library funds is the soaring cost of popular digital content.
The library is charged based on how many times a digital book is downloaded. This differs fundamentally from the way the print-materials-only "analog" library worked. With a printed book or CD, once a library purchased that item for one flat fee, it controlled the use and capped the library expense for that book regardless of how often it circulated.
With digital books, we pay publishers for a license to allow our patrons to download these e-books and audiobooks. They may charge us multiple times for the same digital books. And when the publishers delay the release to libraries, or limit the number of digital books available at any given time to our users, wait times grow longer for a popular book.
County property taxes from Perry County and all Pulaski County residents except those in North Little Rock provide over 90 percent of our annual $19 million operating budget at CALS. About $2 million of that goes to purchase books on all formats.
In fairness to our residents and to make their money extend as far as possible, CALS determined recently that we could no longer afford to make our increasingly expensive array of materials available free of charge to people who do not live in the CALS service area ("nonresidents").
As of Sept. 1, 2020, nonresidents who wish to continue to use the CALS collection, including digital books, will need to re-apply for a new non-resident card. That card will cost $54 annually, which is roughly equal to what the average household in our service area pays annually in property taxes to support CALS. All full-time students at schools in our service area will still be eligible for free CALS library cards, as will their schoolteachers, regardless of where they reside.
Nonresidents currently make up 15 percent of the users of the CALS digital collection and 10 percent of the print collection. This means one of every seven digital items and one of every 10 print items circulated is being used by patrons who do not pay to support the system. That strains our budget and adds to the wait times for resident cardholders in a way that staff and the CALS board deemed unfair--and unsustainable.
Based on my conversations and emails, it seems that many nonresidents who want to continue to enjoy the use of CALS materials agree that contributing to the library's funding is reasonable. In addition, the change in policy has triggered some good questions from our friends in neighboring counties about where their library tax dollars go, if not CALS.
The CALS taxpayer service area includes all of Perry County, and all of Pulaski County, except North Little Rock. Residents of any other county besides Pulaski, and North Little Rock in Pulaski County, do not pay taxes to support CALS. Their library tax millage funds the very fine municipal and county library systems in North Little Rock, Saline County, Lonoke County and others.
Occasionally, the post office assigns an address to a residence that does not accurately reflect the tax jurisdiction of that residence. Our library staff is happy to help patrons discover through Pulaski County Treasurer Debra Buckner's website (pulaskicountytreasurer.net) whether their household pays taxes for CALS. Regardless of the mailing address, any household that pays taxes to CALS is eligible for a free CALS card.
The new nonresident CALS library card and its $54 fee are strictly optional. No one will be charged any fee without making a voluntary re-application for a nonresident library card. Charging a fee for nonresident library cards is standard practice for libraries across the country where they seek to be fair to the residents who are paying taxes to provide the library's resources.
We believe that access to CALS resources is a bargain for residents and nonresidents. Before implementing this change, we looked at scores of other libraries' practices. In the majority of cases, nonresident fees are higher than the CALS fee of $54.
A quick comparison of equivalent retail prices for books, e-books, audiobooks, tools, telescopes, and meeting spaces affirms the importance of sustaining public library alternatives.
We deeply appreciate CALS supporters' long-standing commitment to funding their public library. By exercising prudent stewardship and delivering excellent service, we hope to extend the library's impact and demonstrate our gratitude for the taxes and fees that make it all happen.
------------v------------
Nate Coulter is executive director of the Central Arkansas Library System.
Editorial on 02/21/2020