Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Library Assessment Report Ruffles Municipal Feathers

Link to August 12 Hudson Star-Observer article, "Library board rejects report". (You may need to register for a free account to access article.)

Excerpt: ...Library Board President Jim O’Connor came under fire from board members and the top elected officials in three of the four municipalities that operate the library for publicizing the assessment report.

“We’ve got to stop making these comparisons, Jim, and run this library,” Dave Ostby, a town of Hudson supervisor and library board member, told O’Connor after the vote.

“Let’s just quit making these silly comparisons,” Ostby continued. “Let’s just move on. Let’s see what we can do to enhance this facility.”


From the Preliminary 2008 Wisconsin Public Library Annual Report Data

Hudson Area Public Library

  • Service area population: 30,833
  • Square footage: 8,139
  • Municipal/county revenue: $646,132
Franklin Public Library
  • Service area population: 33,560
  • Square footage: 40,000
  • Municipal/county revenue: $1,224,000
Germantown Public Library
  • Service area population: 31,690
  • Square footage: 26,900
  • Municipal/county revenue: $843,496
Marshfield Public Library
  • Service area population: 30,717
  • Square footage: 36,112
  • Municipal/county revenue: $1,318,310
Sun Prairie Public Library
  • Service area population: 33,704
  • Square footage: 36,000
  • Municipal/county revenue: $1,190,499

Link to horn-tooting about population growth in St. Croix County, where Hudson is located.

Excerpt: St. Croix County ranks among Wisconsin’s most dynamic counties. Historically, St. Croix is the state’s leader in population growth (by percentage increase). St. Croix is the only Wisconsin county included in the Census Bureau’s annual ranking of the 100 Fastest Growing Counties in the United States. St. Croix and Pierce counties in Wisconsin are combined with 11 counties in Minnesota to form the 13-county Minneapolis-St. Paul MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).

City of Hudson population
2000 census: 8,775
2008 est: 11,865

St. Croix County population
2000 census: 63,155
2008 est.: 82,487

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