Opinion: Library needs millage

The Flint Public Library board has placed a millage proposal on the ballot for the Aug. 3 primary asking Flint voters for 1.4 mills. The 1.4 mills represent a .9 renewal plus a new .5 mills.

The library board is well aware of the local economic situation, including the job and housing market, which is why they are so committed to retaining as many library services as possible. Many Flint residents rely on the library for information related to such topics as employment, legal issues and health information, in addition to free access to computer technology provided at the library.

Are libraries still relevant? With one-third of active borrowers at the library being children and teens, and another third made up of those 18 to 35, in Flint the answer is yes.

Even if the proposal passes, the library's tax revenue will be permanently reduced to 10 to 15 percent below its average revenue for the past five years. In the eight years since the last library millage, the board, management and staff at the library have worked diligently to stay within the revenue budget, to control costs and to operate the library as efficiently as possible.

Staffing has been reduced by 30 percent since 2004, mostly through attrition. The staff has agreed to take raises of two percent or less, with no raises the last two years. Both of the library's unions as well as non-union employees have agreed to pay cuts for the fiscal year 2011.

The library has scaled back its employee benefit plans several times, and may have been the first unit of government in Genesee County whose unions agreed to pay 20 percent of their health care premiums (beginning July 1, 2009).

Despite a reduced budget, the library has worked to put away money to take care of the aging main branch. In the past six months it was able to purchase new boilers and to contract for a new passenger elevator without borrowing. It was also able to finance a new roof in 2005 and pay it off in 2009. Currently the library has no debt.

Even with cuts in staffing the public has seen little or no reduction in services or programs at the Flint Public Library, primarily due to efforts of staff to creatively reorganize work in order to maintain services with fewer people.

Additionally, the library leverages its resources through partnerships and collaborations, such as the collaborations between the summer reading program and Sloan Museum's rocketry program at the library. The library also has an ongoing partnership with the Genesee County Bar Association to provide legal forums at the library on topics of interest to the community, such as landlord-tenant issues and worker's compensation. These forums are available on the Flint Public Library's YouTube channel.

The library continues to harness technology to improve operations and delivery of library services to the public. The internet is the best thing that ever happened to libraries. It helps everyone — including librarians — find information much more quickly.

Library staff helps people with strategies for job searching online job applications, applying for jobs using the internet and applying for federal and state benefits.

Ultimately, a community's decision of how to fund its public library is one of "values." First, what are the community's values — what do we care about? And second, how much "value" does the community receive from its investment in the library?

Do we in Flint value literacy and education for our young people? Are we serious about becoming a college town? Can Flint afford to lose the "value" our public library delivers to the community every day?

Flint voters will have a chance to answer those questions Aug. 3.