Northport Alabama Pays a Pittance for Library Services

Link to November 19 Tuscaloosa News article, "Budget battle focuses on library funds".

Excerpt: Officials from the Tuscaloosa Public Library met with the Northport City Council to ask for more money during a council work session Thursday night.

Last year, Northport gave the library $45,000. During an initial first draft of a working budget, the city had listed no money for the library. But the city now plans to give the library money in 2010.

How much is not yet known.

“I think Northport should not do anything less than what it did last year — nothing less than that,” said LeGrand Hutchison, former Northport City Council member and Northport’s representative on the library’s board of trustees. “It’s time for Northport to step forward.”

In 2010, the city of Tuscaloosa [population 90,221] is budgeted to give $1.59 million to the library, which is an average of $18 per person in Tuscaloosa. Tuscaloosa County plans to give $1.2 million to the library, which is about $8 per person, Hutchison said. If Northport gives the same amount as last year, that would be an average of $2 per Northport resident.

Considering that Wisconsin residents pay an average of $35.02 per capita for library services, folks in Tuscaloosa County have a pretty cheap deal all around.

Some comparative samples. (All figures from 2008 Wisconsin Public Library Data)

Kenosha
Est. 2008 population: 95,910
2008 municipal appropriation: $4,615,988

Appleton
Est. 2008 population: 72,297
2008 municipal appropriation: $3,474,091

Janesville
Est. 2008 population: 63,540
2008 municipal appropriation: $2,944,481

Eau Claire
Est. 2008 population: 65,362
2008 municipal appropriation: $2,713,917

Oshkosh
Est. 2008 population: 65,920
2008 municipal appropriation: $2,455,455