Dennis Hays and I are not submitting a library budget resolution this year. The cuts to the library budget in the County Executive's budget include the loss of one FTE position at Tech Ops and a $100,000 cut to the materials' budget. Closing Sherwood Regional Library computer center which was planned, was not included in the cuts because of the efforts of Supervisor Storck to stop the closure.

I recently requested library collection documents through the Freedom of Information Act. Initial analysis of those documents shows a net loss of 45,000 volumes to the adult nonfiction collection during the 18 month period from July 2015 to Jan 2017. The largest of these losses are concentrated in the regional branches.

During the same time period very few adult nonfiction titles were purchased by FCPL.

I need more time to analyze the rest of the collection documents to evaluate the other sections of the collection, but there is no time before submitting a library budget resolution to the Federation Board.

There are other issues facing the library that could have profound implications to the future of the library, the staff, and the collection. As part of the LOB exercise, it was requested that all branches have the same hours. Smaller community branches are open fewer hours than regional branches. To equalize would mean cutting regional branch hours down to community branch hours, or increasing community hours to regional hours. In April, the Library Board will be looking at options and the cost of each option to accomplish equalizing branch hours across the county. Increasing branch hours would require hiring more staff, reducing hours would require less staff.

Also, of great concern is that Library Board Policy Committee will be given language by the county to change the descriptions or classification of regional vs community branches. We will not have the exact wording until the Library Board meeting in April. The plan is to submit the language in April with the Library Board voting in May. We are questioning if it is legal for the Library Board to assign a new classification to a library built with dedicated bonds approved through referendum.

Should regionals be reclassified as community branches, the required minimum print collection of 100,000 can be reduced to 25,000, the minimum collection level for community branches. The requirements are set by the Library of Virginia and state funding may be determined by those classifications. We don't know what the impact to state funding would be if the classifications are changed. Also, the specification for the physical size (square feet) of the library will be reduced which would also reduce the number of parking spaces required. This could impact the size of the new Reston Regional Library with construction to start in 2020 and could reduce the number of parking spaces set aside for the library by a considerable amount.

It appears that the materials' budget, currently $4.2M, is not enough to sustain the full collection. The overall collection numbers fell 125,000 items between July 2015 and Jan 2017. (That's more than a regional library's entire collection). There are very limited funds to purchase replacement adult nonfiction as books are discarded through the normal weathering process with damage, loss, and books becoming out-of-date.

The recommendation from the Federation Library Committee would be to encourage all Federation Board members to make a request to their supervisors that the library materials' budget not be cut beyond the current level in the FY2018 Advertised Budget

Kathy Kaplan and Dennis Hays, Co-chairs
Federation Library Committee

As requested by President Tim Thompson, attached is a draft resolution to be presented to the Federation board August 14, 2014. This resolution is to request an audit and comprehensive materials inventory of the Fairfax County Public Library.

• This document has been written by me and reviewed by Fred Costello, Federation board member, and Marcia McDevitt, RCA member, and the changes they requested were incorporated into the draft. In addition, Terry Maynard of Reston Citizens Association has completed a Cumulative Collection Overview analysis using FCPL Collection Overview data. His document will be forwarded in a separate email with some notes on what's there and how to navigate.
• At the August board mmeting there will be an update of other issues besides the state of the collection. The Library Board appointed a committee to do a national search for a new library director and Karrie Delaney, the chair of the search committee, says she is looking for a meeting space for September.
• The county will provide $150,000 for an independent survey of library stakeholders. The Communication and Evaluation committee will commence with their meetings to select a vendor in September.
• If you have any questions, let me know. I want to point out that the numbers of holdings at TechOps, 68,423, includes books that are waiting to be discarded.
• Attached are also Terry's graph of holdings through June 30, 2014 and changes between 2006 and 2014 by branch. I would add that the numbers in Tech Ops include books that are on their way to being discarded. We don't know how many are in that category.
  • Terry's numbers are different than mine, possibly his calculator/Excel is more dependable than my little solar calculator.
  • There is also a discrepancy of 66,000 holdings between two methods of calculating collection numbers for FY14. Adding new books and subtracting discards across the year produces 66,000 more books that just subtracting branch holding totals.
• Library FY14 materials budget

DRAFT RESOLUTION FOR AUDIT OF FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Click here to download a PDF version of the draft resolution

BACKGROUND:

• A comprehensive materials inventory of FCPL collection has not been done since 1988.
• Total collection numbers in internal Collection Overview documents cannot be reconciled since 2006 or even yearly. There is a 66,000 volume discrepancy in the FY14 document alone. Additionally, there are discrepancies in the budget numbers in official library documents. The 2011 library budget is listed in IMLS as $32.9M, FCPL in the Star rating (published in the Washington Post in 2014) is listed as $35M, and in county budget documents as $25M.
• Techniques for the massive book dumping that occurred October 2012 to September 2013 has resulted in gaps in the recording of collection data. Books are on the shelves that are not in the catalog.
• There is no way to verify the status of books currently held at Technical Operations. Prior to discard, books are held at Technical Operations. All of the increase of holdings for FY14 are in Technical Operations. The branches showed an overall decrease in holdings, per Terry Maynard’s August 2014 Cumulative Collection Overview.
• The Library Board has convened a committee to begin a national search for a new Library Director. In order to go forward, the new Library Director will need accurate data to assess what is needed to stabilize and rehabilitate the collection and to actualize a workable plan for the future of the library. Deputy Library Director Melanie Quinn has stated that about $100,000 per year from Friends of Library groups’ ongoing book sales goes into the system gift fund and is used by the Library Director at his discretion. The system gift fund has never been audited. Melanie Quinn declined to provide information as to how the money was spent by the Library Director.

Resolution

• WHEREAS the Fairfax County Public Library has not had a complete audit with a materials inventory since 1988;
• WHEREAS there are discrepancies in county documents between 2006 and 2014 regarding collection holdings;
• WHEREAS a new Library Director needs a full understanding of the finances and holdings of the library;
• WHEREAS the system gift fund has never been audited;
• WHEREAS President Jennifer McCullough of FCPLEA called for more transparency in library operations in her July 9, 2014 statement to the Library Board;

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED,

that the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations requests that the Office of the County Attorney conduct a comprehensive audit of the library system, its finances and holdings, including a comprehensive materials inventory, and an audit of the system gift fund.

The Library Board of Trustees AdHoc Communication and Evaluation Committee will meet on 3 June 2014 at 7 PM at the Oakton Library to discuss the future direction of the library based on input from stakeholders.
Demonstrate your concern for the future of your library system
This Communication and Evaluation Committee was created in the aftermath of the 9/11/2013 trustee vote to suspend the Library’s previous redirection plan, also known as “the beta plan.” This Committee will “make recommendations on the future direction of the library based on input from stakeholders.”
Tuesday, June 3 at 7 pm at the Oakton Library at 10304 Lynnhaven Place, Oakton, VA
For more information please visit the event notification posted by Fairfax County. Please plan on attending if you are interested in the future direction of our county's libraries.

Click here to download a PDF version of the membership-approved final resolution.

Resolution

Approved by Federation Board April 24, 2014

Approved by Federation Membership May 15, 2014

BACKGROUND: Transition to a highly-evolved, dynamic, urban county requires support of a modern library that functions as an educational institution capable of supporting all facets of our complex community. Engagement of the entire community is needed to create a new library system to fulfill current and future needs.

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS the 2005 Library Strategic plan allowed for individual reorganization of branch libraries to suit local needs, including creation of space for meeting rooms and elimination of collection materials to provide space for the meeting rooms;

WHEREAS the 2013 Library Strategic Plan provided language to transition from print materials to digital formats, thereby leading to the discarding of several hundred thousand books in the fall of 2012 and during 2013;

WHEREAS the Library Board of Trustees recommends that digital books should not supplant print books in a premature move to new technologies;

WHEREAS Fairfax County Public Library sustained between 2006 and January 2014 a net loss of 460,522 holdings;

WHEREAS the Library Board of Trustees has requested a broader outreach including surveys to reach all population demographics to ascertain current and projected community library needs; and

WHEREAS a function of the library is to include literacy support for children and adults and library support for new businesses as strategies for furthering economic development in the county;

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED, The Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations

calls for a new Library Strategic Plan to be developed with full participation of all library stakeholders, including but not limited to, citizens, citizens associations, staff, Fairfax County Public Schools, volunteers, and members of library Friends groups, with such Plan to include metrics and standards for success that are agreed to by the stakeholders.

Click here to download a PDF version of the board-approved draft resolution

BACKGROUND: Transition to a highly-evolved, dynamic, urban county requires support of a modern library that functions as an educational institution capable of supporting all facets of our complex community. Engagement of the entire community is needed to create a new library system to fulfill current and future needs.

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS the 2005 Library Strategic plan allowed for individual reorganization of branch libraries to suit local needs, including creation of space for meeting rooms and elimination of collection materials to provide space for the meeting rooms;

WHEREAS the 2013 Library Strategic Plan provided language to transition from print materials to digital formats, thereby leading to the discarding of several hundred thousand books in the fall of 2012 and during 2013;

WHEREAS the Library Board of Trustees recommends that digital books should not supplant print books in a premature move to new technologies;

WHEREAS Fairfax County Public Library sustained between 2006 and January 2014 a net loss of 460,522 holdings;

WHEREAS the Library Board of Trustees has requested a broader outreach including surveys to reach all population demographics to ascertain current and projected community library needs; and

WHEREAS a function of the library is to include literacy support for children and adults and library support for new businesses as strategies for furthering economic development in the county;

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED, The Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations

Calls for a new Library Strategic Plan, to be developed with full participation of all library stakeholders, including citizens, citizens associations, staff, volunteers, and members of library Friends groups, with such Plan to include metrics and standards for success that are agreed to by the stakeholders.

Click here to download a PDF version of the draft resolution

BACKGROUND: Transition to a highly-evolved, dynamic, urban county requires support of a modern library that functions as an educational institution capable of supporting all facets of our complex community. Engagement of the entire community is needed to create a new library system to fulfill current and future needs.

WHEREAS the 2005 Library Strategic plan allowed for individual reorganizing of branch libraries to suit local needs to include creating space for meeting rooms and the subsequent the elimination of collection materials to provide space for those meeting rooms,

WHEREAS the 2013 Library Strategic Plan provided language to transition from print materials to digital formats which lead to the discarding of several hundred thousand books in the fall of 2012 and during 2013,

WHEREAS the Library Board of Trustees recommends that digital books should not supplant print books in a premature move to new technologies,

WHEREAS Fairfax County Public Library sustained between 2006 and January 2014 a net loss of holdings of 460,522,

WHEREAS the Library Board of Trustees has requested a broader outreach including surveys to reach all population demographics to ascertain current and projected community library needs,

WHEREAS the FCFCA voted March 20, 2014 for the Budget Resolution of the Library Committee to broaden the function of the library to include literacy support for children and adults and library support for new businesses as strategies for furthering economic development in the county,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

The Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations

Calls for a new Library Strategic Plan to be developed with full participation of all library stakeholders, including citizens, staff, volunteers, and members of library Friends groups, that includes metrics and standards for success that are agreed to by the community.

Kathy Kaplan, Chairman of the Federation’s ad hoc committee on the plans for the County libraries

Kathy submitted the following interim report on her investigations (9/30/13):

• "I think changes [need] to be made to the way libraries operate—to accommodate ways people get their information, do research and use libraries as community centers," said Sharon Bulova, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors chairman, as quoted in the Reston Connection, Sept 28, 2013.
• By direction of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the Library Board of Trustees, the Fairfax County library system is moving away from providing traditional library services (note 1). Since 2005 books have been systematically purged to make room for open space, for meeting spaces, for community gathering spaces, to convert libraries into community centers (note 2). Most of the books purged between 2005 and 2007 were nonfiction titles (note 3). General Dwight D. Eisenhower's personal account of World War II, Crusade in Europe, is no longer in the library collection. The library insists that community libraries are not archives, but many patrons would agree that certain books are too important to be thrown away and forgotten.
• The 2012 Library Strategic Plan approved by the Board of Supervisors provides for the transition from print books to digital books. To implement the Strategic Plan, in May 2013, Library Director Sam Clay presented his Beta Plan which was created to save $275,000 in FY 2014 (note 4). That is a very small sliver of the county's entire budget. The average salary of Library Administrators is $150,000, so removing two administrative positions would fulfill the savings requirement ordered by the County Executive (note 5). The Beta Plan calls for two libraries, Reston Regional and Burke Center, to transition to a new modality. Staff will be cut from 20.5 to 13.5 at Reston Regional and from 9 to 7.5 at Burke Center. In addition, information and circulation desks will be combined in a single service desk (note 6).
• Youth Services will be eliminated. Children's librarians will be eliminated. Information librarians will be eliminated (note 7). A new employment classification, Customer Service Specialists, was added. Beginning library staff will only be required to have two years of junior college and two years of retail experience. Upper level positions will only need a Bachelor’s degree. Master's degrees in Library Science and Information Science will no longer be required even for the position of Library Director. Within six months the other branches will begin to transition to the Beta Plan. Removing degree requirements for library positions is only the first step. Reducing skill requirements for other jobs in county agencies that provide human services will be the next step in county reorganization. Library Director Sam Clay has said that the other county agencies are being directed to follow the library's lead (note 8).
• At the current time, fiction books are pulled from the shelves after 12 months of not being checked out. Non-fiction books are removed after 18 months. The branch librarian can decide whether to discard the book or transfer it to a different branch. Under the Beta Plan, branch librarians will not be allowed to review culled books (note 9). Once they are pulled by young library pages, they will be discarded (note 10). To prepare for renovation to add space for community meeting rooms and space for more computers, 12,902 juvenile and young adult books were removed from Pohick Library (note 11). The books are not likely to be replaced; there won't be room for them (note 12).
• When it was discovered that discarded books were not being made available to Friends of Library groups for resale, but destroyed, there was an uproar in the community (note 13). On September 10, 2013, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors asked the Library Board of Trustees to hold public outreach meetings to allow the community time to understand and evaluate the plans to change the library.
• The taxpayers of Fairfax County need to attend these outreach meetings. There are questions we need to consider. What is the library for? Should we have pool tables in the library? Should we have bowling in the libraries? Should we be able to attend classes on hog butchering at the library? What about yoga classes? (note 14) The cost of providing digital books has not been fully evaluated. At the present time only two publishers lease digital books to libraries. Publishers charge $85 and the book can only be borrowed 25 times. Then the lease expires (note 15). A print book that costs $10 can be borrowed up to 50 times before it wears out. Therefore, we may find that it costs ten times more to provide digital books than print books (note 16). What will be the cost of transitioning to digital in the long term? The library's current collection of 2.2 million books cannot be replaced with digital books. Most books are not available in digital format. These books should not be discarded.
• Currently the budget for the library is 0.7% of the county budget. The public school budget is 53% of the county budget. Yet the public schools asked the Library Board of Trustees to pay for e-readers for children whose parents cannot afford e-readers (note 17). As the books are emptied out of the library campuses, those campuses will be re-purposed for other activities in conjunction with other county agencies such as the Park Authority (note 18).
• If the taxpayers of Fairfax County want to continue to enjoy libraries as they are, they need to speak out now during the public outreach meetings hosted by the Library Board or Trustees. Meeting times and locations are listed on the Fairfax Federation website and the Fairfax County Library website.
• The County’s strategic plan may be found at: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/news/strategicplan.pdf. Section 4 describes the future library.
  Footnotes:
  1. See 2005 Strategic Plan, See 2012 Library Strategic Plan, and See Library Board of Trustees meeting minutes 6-13-07, pg 3. “Library as a community center….that is what Library Board is trying to do….”
  2. 2007 culling article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/01/AR2007010100729.html and Clay letter to editor, Post, began new weeding process in 2005: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010901454.html
  3. Nonfiction books being culled: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/26/AR2007012601571.html
     Quote Lois Kirkpatrick, Library Marketing and Public Relations Manager: "Kirkpatrick thought the story 'sounded like we were trashing' classic literature. Classics are a minuscule proportion of the books on our computer reports. The largest percentage is nonfiction," she said.
  4. See Library and Park Area Summary FY 2014 under Budget Trends for $275,000 figure
  5. $150,000 average salary of library administrators estimate made by Fred Costello on inspection of Fairfax County library budget documents
  6. See Beta Plan documents
  7. See Fairfax County Library Board of Trustees Meeting minutes for June and July 2013
  8. See Fairfax County Library Board of Trustees Meeting minutes for 12 June 2013
  9. Conversation with multiple librarians including Jennifer McCullough, FCPLEA rep
  10. Conversation with Jennifer McCullough, FCPLEA rep
  11. FY2010 to FY2014 FCPL Materials Inventory
  12. Description of renovation plans in press release from Fairfax County in local newspaper, more meeting rooms, less space for reading materials
  13. See Tom Jackman’s Washington Post article
  14. Wall Street Journal article as recommended reading to Branch Managers in meeting minutes: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324677204578187901423347828.html
  15. Comments from Jennifer McCullough, FCPLEA rep. Various news articles
  16. “Ten times” estimate was calculated by Fred Costello
  17. See Fairfax County Library Board of Trustees Meeting minutes for 11 January 2012, pg 2
  18. See Fairfax County Library Board of Trustees Meeting minutes for 10 June 2009, pg 1

See also the following items:

• A New Beginning for Fairfax County Public Libraries? - Connection Newspapers - 18 September 2013
• Fairfax Library System Suspends Strategic Plan, will Review Book Discard Policy - Washington Post - 12 September 2013
• Fairfax Library Board Suspends Strategic Plan Pending Input from Public, Employees - Washington Post - 12 September 2013
• Library of the Future courtesy of Grimm + Parker Architects)

The Fairfax County Public Library provided this guidance on Collection Development & Management to a Library Board Committee on 24 September

• Sunday Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. at the SEIUVA office - 3545 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 106, Fairfax
• Monday, September 30, 7 p.m. at Fairfax Regional Library (10360 North St., Fairfax): Library Board of Trustees Evaluation and Communication Subcommittee Meeting.
• Thursday, October 3, 7 p.m. at Centreville Library (14200 St. Germain Dr. Centreville): Public Meeting About the Library.
• First Monday with Supervisor Hudgins: FOCUS ON LIBRARIES, October 7, 2013, 1 to 3 p.m. at the Patrick Henry Library, Vienna. This First Monday session will focus on public libraries. In light of the library's "beta plan", Supervisor Hudgins would like to hear from you on how you utilize and value library services. You are invited to come and share your thoughts and experiences with Supervisor Hudgins.
• Monday, October 7, 7 p.m. at Fairfax Regional Library, (Fairfax City Hall 10455 Armstrong St. Room 111, Fairfax, VA.): The Future of Our Public Libraries.
• Monday, October 7, 7 p.m. at Chantilly Regional Library (4000 Stringfellow Rd, Chantilly): The Future of Our Public Libraries.
• Tuesday, October 8, 7 p.m. at Lake Braddock Secondary School, Lecture Hall B135 (9200 Burke Lake Rd., Burke, VA, enter through door #1): The Future of Our Public Libraries.
• Thursday, October 10, 7 p.m. at Luther Jackson Middle School (3020 Gallows Rd., Falls Church): Community Dialogue on Libraries.
• Wednesday, October 16, 7 p.m, at Lorton Regional Library (9520 Richmond Highway Lorton, VA): The Future of Our Public Libraries
• Saturday, October 19, 1:30 p.m, at Kings Park Community Library (9000 Burke Lake Road, Burke, VA): The Future of Our Public Libraries
• Monday, October 21, 7 p.m, at Great Falls Regional Library (9830 Georgetown Pike,Great Falls, VA): The Future of Our Public Libraries
• DATE TO BE DETERMINED: Hunter Mill District: Community Dialogue on Libraries. We will have the details on this local meeting in the October Hunter Mill Highlights newsletter and on their Facebook page.