Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Librarian: Make My Day

One of the best resources for area businesses is hiding in plain sight at the Minneapolis Public Library. And, the services are free or incredibly cheap.
Downtown businesses have applauded the new Central Library with its vistas, spaciousness, and architectural beauty. What is not so easily seen are the 80,000 volumes of circulating and reference materials available for business users. The business collection, especially its reference section, has had a lot of and frequent use as seen by reference statistics which show business use as substantially higher than any other area of the library. This includes electronic databases in business subjects.
The Library is also developing small business sections in both East Lake and North Regional – set to open in Spring 2007 when renovations are complete. North Regional will have 400 books, periodicals and newspapers at its Business and Careers Center and there will be about 500 items at the East Lake Library.
While the library system operating revenues are only two percent of the Minneapolis budget, the library system also offers smart and fast research. INFORM is the research service of the Minneapolis Public Library. It relies on current information from reliable resources to provide research and document needs to small businesses, multinational corporations, law firms, and professionals in marketing, advertising and public relations, and media organizations. The service is also used by investment and engineering firms.
Fabulous as this all is – and this is not hyperbole – revenue shifts toward the negative are coming down hard on the glass jewel in downtown Minneapolis. And glass, as we know, can shatter under pressure.
This is essentially a supply side issue. By artificially narrowing the stream of revenues through caps and ceilings, the Minneapolis City Council has forced the library system to cut everything but essential services. But even after curtailment, which is not good when the services are virtually free to the public, including the business community, the library system faces forced closures to remain in operation. Yes, it is eating the seed corn to stay alive.
Of primary importance to business is its future workforce. Failure to invest in this area has resulted in some alarming statistics as far as new entries into Kindergarten are concerned. Less than 50% of entering students in Minnesota are proficient enough to succeed. An important link in addressing this statistic is the availability of free, open libraries. These services are invaluable for helping the coming generations of future workers in our city.
So on the demand side, the legendary Minneapolis Public Library rate of new items in the collection is going down as circulation increases. All over the country, library circulation is rising. Patrons are thirsty for collection depth and breadth. When it isn’t there, the population at the bottom of the economic ladder loses first, but eventually everyone loses.
However, the Minnesota attributes we love and have come to expect may desert us if we don’t pay more attention to demand. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) points to the top ten. These include business friendly climate, fertile ground for innovation, excellence in education, proven performance, wealth of resources and our ranking as a “most livable state.”
We wear all of these labels proudly and with a lot of optimism. But it is time to take stock. Our inventory is shrinking and that has gone largely unnoticed. In the future, when we start to see the effects of this, it will be too late to market the best we have to offer. Now, while we enjoy these high ratings, attention must be paid to our resources.
Minneapolis has to come to a better solution than a one size fits all fiscal policy that is bearing down hard on one of its greatest resources, its libraries. She may not be a cop, but a librarian is one of best public servants we have for the price, and little kids are not afraid of her.

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