The Huff Po "Libraries in Crisis" feature led me to reflect, once again, on the current health of Wisconsin's public libraries. What's the prognosis on our primarily property-tax supported libraries in an era of declining property values and shrinking tax bases? [Late last year, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an excellent, informative series on the "Property Tax Meltdown" in the Atlanta metro area. And if we're not all in the same boat, I'd venture to say we're in the same navy. It's just that some of us have been able to avoid exceedingly tempest-tossed seas. ]
In this post, I take a look at administrative units and service facilities.
According to the 2010 Wisconsin Public Library Service Data, there are...
- 385 public library system members (or what the Institute for Museum and Library Services defines as "administrative units").
- 82 branch libraries
- 8 bookmobiles, for a total of
- 475 service facilities.
Here's a recent historical comparison:
As far as I know, only 2 service facilities closed in 2011. The Fond du Lac Public Library eliminated two "parked" bookmobiles -- one in Rosendale and the other in front of Festival Foods on East Johnson Street. However, thanks to a successful fundraising campaign, FdLPL opened a Festival Foods satellite branch on November 17th.
As for the construction of a new "administrative unit", the $14 million, 38,000-square-foot Fitchburg Public Library opened its doors to the public in June. As a result, the City of Fitchburg shed its dubious distinction of being the largest Wisconsin municipality (population 25,260) that didn't maintain its own public library.
A number of Wisconsin communities completed significant building projects in 2011:
- Hartford's Jack Russell Memorial Library, a $10.2 million, 35,000-square-foot facility.
- The Milwaukee Public Library's replacement of its 43-year-old Villard Avenue branch library, with another project in the works.
- Fort Atkinson's Dwight Foster Public Library's $5.5 million expansion and remodeling project which increased the library's square footage by 12,000 to 33,000.
- Minocqua Public Library's 1.6 million expansion.
Works in progress:
Soon to be underway:
Madison Public's Central Library.
And a number of communities, such as Marshfield, are at various points in the planning stage.
I find it interesting that, at a time when we're hearing a renewed chorus of "Why do we need libraries?", communities are still investing in bricks-and-mortar library projects. Since the start of this blog, I have linked 434 posts to the subject heading of "library building projects", which encompasses new construction, remodeling, and expansion.
Note: The above is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but if I've overlooked some obvious examples, I'll be happy to add them. And my apologies for the oversight.
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