CCL posting on Libraries Department blog, March 15, 2009.
Arlington County on December 30, 2008 announced a budget gap of $35 million
(http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/Communications/PressReleases/67673.aspx) for FY
2010 unless services were cut and/or revenue raised. This shortfall amounts to 3.8 percent
of the County’s proposed $929.5 million FY 2010 budget. Why must the Libraries Department cut
three branch libraries’ operations by 50 percent when the overall County budget shortfall is
3.8 percent?
These 50-percent cuts are particularly perplexing when the entire Libraries Department budget
is only 1.3 percent of the entire County budget. The savings wrought by these cuts in branch
library operations are minuscule. The cost of operating Cherrydale Library six days a week,
for example, represents .0299 percent (that is, less than three hundredths of one percent) of
the entire County budget. Reducing Cherrydale Library’s operations to three days per week would
produce savings amounting to 73 cents per year for each Arlington citizen. I’m sure a similar
picture pertains with regard to the Aurora Hills and Glencarlyn libraries.
The small size of each of the three branch libraries facing proposed cuts appears to me to be
irrelevant. All three libraries are cherished by their communities and all three are efficient
and cost-effective operations. According to the Libraries Department’s web site, each of these
libraries—Cherrydale, Aurora Hills, and Glencarlyn—handles a larger portion of patron visits than
the portion of the library system’s budget that each absorbs. For example, Cherrydale Library
absorbs 4 percent of the budget allocated to all eight libraries in the system—Central included—while
handling 5 percent of patron visits and 5.4 percent of checked-out materials.
Other commentators on this blog have mentioned the rise in library usage. Using Cherrydale Library
again as an example, patron visits during the past year are up by 10 percent and the quantity of
materials checked out is up by 8 percent. I’m sure the pattern at Aurora Hills and Glencarlyn is similar.
Surely the County can find savings elsewhere and keep our neighborhood libraries open.
Respectfully,
Greg Embree
Citizens for Cherrydale Library (http://home.comcast.net/~suza1/library.htm)
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