The new town square

Public libraries in the digital age are more relevant than ever

by

On Valentine’s Day, Oregon village president Jeanne Carpenter merged her worlds, pledging to donate half of the day’s sales from her coffee shop to advance one of her civic passions: the building of a new library for Oregon.

“When I ran for president I had three things I really wanted to accomplish. And one of them was building a new library,” says Carpenter, who owns Firefly Coffeehouse & Artisan Cheese, located on Oregon’s main drag.

“We are such a growing community and people who are moving here for our good schools, our good food scene, are now demanding better resources,” adds Carpenter, who served seven years on the village board and is now in her first term as village president.

Carpenter says budget restraints meant the current library, which is outdated and cramped, never fully met the needs of the village, even in its early years. This time around, the community is putting its money where its mouth is. The village of 10,000 has earmarked $6 million for the new facility and large donors have pledged $1 million in private funds; the capital campaign launched Feb. 14 is aiming to bring in another $4 million in smaller donations.

“The modern library is going to be absolutely key to building the community and maintaining a strong democracy,” says Carpenter. “It’s what we see as a gathering place for thoughtful discussion. A place for people no matter their status, their wealth, their income. Where you can go to learn, to participate, to research. You can become part of something that is bigger than yourself.”

Madison also has some exciting library news, as it gets ready to open Pinney Library in its new location at Royster Corners, 516 Cottage Grove Road. The $10.53 million facility expands the footprint of the library from 12,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet. The city of Madison is contributing $9.51 million for the project, and the Madison Public Library Foundation has donated $1 million, along with artwork worth $20,000.

A detailed community planning process helped guide the design of the new facility, its technology offerings and programming, all of which address the changing ways people in Madison are using their public libraries, says Tana Elias, digital services and marketing manager.

“What we’ve noticed over the last decade is that circulation is slowly going down,” says Elias, referring to checkouts of such physical materials as books, CDs, DVDs and magazines. But the number of online checkouts for e-books and audiobooks is increasing, she adds.

People are also increasingly looking to gather at the library for all kinds of reasons. In response, says Elias, “the library has shifted a lot of its focus toward opening our spaces for multiple uses, including events, studying and group work, small meetings and larger meetings.”

Recent statewide and national polls, and a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum, find that despite massive changes in recent years in how information is distributed and consumed, public libraries remain very much in demand. As Ari Brown, data and research analyst at the Policy Forum, writes in his introduction to the report, “With the advent of Netflix, YouTube, podcasts, and Amazon, one might expect usage of public libraries to be in decline. But in Wisconsin, residents appear to be using libraries to a similar degree, although they are doing so in different ways.”

Brown used a rich trove of data from the Department of Public Administration to look more closely at how library usage has changed over the last 20 years. He also drew on two recent Marquette Law School polls that surveyed residents on how they access and view their public libraries.

“Despite a shifting media landscape,” writes Brown, “the state’s public libraries still play a critical role, especially for those who are low income, rural, and people of color.”

A “unique” resource

Since debuting in 2012, the Marquette Law School poll has consistently asked Wisconsin residents what they think about the state of the economy, reigning state leaders, and upcoming elections. In September 2015 and March 2017, the poll added some questions about library usage.

“Libraries are just such an important institution in really every community around the state, which maybe makes them a bit unique in that regard,” says John Johnson, a research fellow with the Marquette University Law School. “They cover all kinds of communities in Wisconsin. So the policy aspects around how libraries are used, and who uses them and for what purposes, are an important part of the mission of a poll like ours.”

Johnson notes that national polling reveals some trends. “Library usage peaks during economic recessions, so it’s seen a slight decline as the economy has improved,” he says. “But library usage is still at robust levels nationwide.”

And some ways people use the library have remained pretty consistent, he adds.

“They like doing other things too,” he notes. “But the idea that that sort of mission is becoming obsolete is, I think, unfounded.”

Borrowing a book was the most popular reason to visit the library among all income and education levels, but was most popular with the most educated library goers (81 percent), compared to those who didn’t go to college (67 percent).

Brown at the Wisconsin Policy Forum also looked more closely at the demographic categories in the poll. While 38 percent of all respondents went to the library for help from a librarian, he found that 57 percent of black respondents went for that reason. People of color were also more likely to go to the library to use a computer or the internet: 61 percent of Hispanic respondents and 55 percent of black respondents went for that purpose, compared to the poll average of 31 percent.

“When asked how a library closing would impact them personally, black, older and low-income respondents said it would have a major effect at higher rates than the statewide average,” Brown wrote.

Brown’s analysis of the Department of Public Instruction data also provides insights into library usage and trends around the state. There were nearly 28 million visits to 332 public libraries in 2018, which boils down to about five visits per Wisconsin resident. (There are almost 400 libraries in the state, but data on visits was not available for all of them, notes Brown.)

Overall visits have not changed that much in the last 20 years, down just less than one percent. But there was a bit of a drop — 22 percent — since a peak in 2009, which, of course, was in the middle of the recession. Just like everything else in this divided state, visits to libraries differed by region. Visits to rural libraries increased 40 percent between 2000 and 2018, while visits to suburban libraries grew just .5 percent and visits to libraries in cities and towns dropped during this same period. The use of Wi-Fi likely accounts for much of the attraction for rural users.

Circulation numbers also reflect regional differences. The number of materials checked out in city libraries since 2000 is down 8.2 percent, but up nearly 25 percent in suburban and rural libraries.

Circulation down

Those statewide figures on circulation match what is going on in Madison, according to statistics supplied by Elias, who has observed changes in library usage herself over the course of a long career with the Madison library system; she started out as a page 25 years ago, before becoming a librarian and more recently moving into marketing.

According to Elias, there has been a 35 percent decrease in checkouts between 2009 and 2018. She notes that there are many reasons for this, including that streaming content is now widely available in people’s homes. Also, as Madison has grown and spread out, some Madison residents actually live closer to libraries in bedroom communities like Verona or Middleton and head there instead for visits. She says the threat of fines also might make socioeconomically challenged residents reluctant to check out materials.

At the same time that physical checkouts decreased, the library system saw a huge increase — 2,300 percent — in e-books and audiobook checkouts. They now make up 11 percent of all checkouts, says Elias. “In 2009 we checked out 15,000 audiobooks,” she says. “In 2018 we checked out 382,000.”

Computers and Wi-Fi also became bigger draws. Computer use (wired computers, laptops and, in some cases, iPads) was up 68 percent from 2009 to 2017.

Other data collected between 2009 and 2018 backs up the notion of libraries as the new town center. The number of programs is up 193 percent and program attendance is up 114 percent. Meeting room use is also up 407 percent.

The desire to congregate in libraries has been an important consideration in the redesign of all of Madison’s libraries in recent years, says Elias. “Every time we talk about renovating a library we’ve heard from the communities they serve that they want more meeting space. They want a place to meet with other people, where they can use our Wi-Fi and other resources. People ask for that over and over again. Not just in Madison. It’s a national trend.”

The new Pinney branch will have a large community meeting room that can be divided into two rooms, much like the third floor room at the Central Library and one at Sequoya on Midvale Boulevard. There will also be four other small meeting rooms. The old Pinney branch, Elias notes, had just one meeting room.

The conceptual plans for the new Oregon library also prioritize gathering spaces. “We have space for people to meet, including a large community meeting room and a whole bunch of smaller meeting rooms, because that is something we’re very much missing in Oregon,” says village president Carpenter. “We’re missing a place where people can congregate and have a meeting and plan things and celebrate things. We’re looking at the library to serve that big need...because that is what the community has asked for.”

The current library’s meeting room, Carpenter says with a laugh, “comfortably holds 12 people.”

Committed funders

Who is paying for these new meeting rooms and digital services and equipment? In large part, local communities are picking up the tab.

According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum report, municipal funds comprised the lion’s share of revenue for the state’s libraries in 2018 — $168 million. Counties kicked in another $68 million and state and federal funds combined were $4 million. “Other income,” which includes gifts, donations, fines and fees, accounted for $19 million.

These 2018 numbers are not that different from 2000, when $164.2 million or 86.8 percent of all funding for libraries came from municipal or county sources. Libraries also ate up a considerable portion of all the monies counties and municipalities allocated for culture, recreation and education: 34 percent in 2000 and 38.2 percent in 2018. What does this mean? People love their libraries! Or, as Brown from the Policy Forum puts it, “These figures suggest that municipalities and counties have viewed libraries as a priority and have kept up their commitments of local taxes and discretionary state aid.”

This could reflect a greater affinity for and trust in local government and services. “We always find in polling that people’s confidence in local government is higher than their confidence in state government, which is in turn higher than their confidence in the federal government,” says Johnson of the Marquette Law School. “Because libraries are locally controlled everywhere in Wisconsin, it could make people feel they belong to them more.”

On Feb. 18, voters in the city of Dodgeville narrowly approved an advisory referendum that allows the city to spend up to $7 million to build a new library. The city council still needs to give final approval.

The day before the vote, librarian Vickie Stangel heard from her brother John, who suggested she post on Facebook a list of services and materials provided by the library; the idea was to educate those who still think of libraries as solely a place to borrow books. Her list included: access to Consumer Reports online from home or library; book clubs and discussion groups; author talks; bilingual storytime; daily and weekly newspapers (yay!); delivery to homebound readers and senior living facilities; employee assistance; ESL resources; genealogy groups; faxing, scanning and color printing…and more.

Reached the day after the vote at the library, Stangel says patrons were coming in to see about next steps. Because Dodgeville is located in a rural area, many of the people who use the library are not residents of the city, so could not vote in the referendum.

“I told them, ‘Yes, you are restricted from voting. But there are no restrictions on donations,’” says Stangel, laughing.

The city of Dodgeville has 4,700 residents, but the library, because of its use by rural residents, has a “service footprint” of over 12,000,” says Stangel.

Stangel, who has been with the Dodgeville library for 14 years, says the city was talking about a new library even before she came on board. The current library is so cramped there is no room for other patrons when school groups visit. Reading clubs and other groups must meet before or after the library closes. A popular drop-in storytime program, that ballooned to 60 to 70 children and their caregivers, was at one point moved to the city council chambers, located on the floor under the library. “The space we’re in [is] comfortable for 15,” says Stangel.

The library director figured that, if the advisory referendum failed, she would need to cut services that are not “core” to the library.

“We are doing voter registration here, we’re doing 2020 census applications now. We did applications for Affordable Care [insurance]. We’re a warming center, we’re a cooling center, we’re a safe place for kids, we’re doing after-school. All of these things that communities need that are falling through the cracks.”

Stangel says libraries are now the intermediaries for all sorts of public programs, especially as the federal government has moved to put forms online for such things as filing taxes and applying for Social Security. “They take away the face-to face but they would really like libraries to pick that up,” she says.

And while people who are homeless rely heavily on urban libraries, they live in communities like Dodgeville as well, notes Stangel. To better assist people in need, she’s currently a member of a local mental health coalition as well as the Iowa County Healthy Aging in Rural Towns Coalition.

In many ways, libraries have become the first and most efficient stop for people seeking help, says Stangel. “We can quickly adapt and get services to people much faster than some other agencies. We’re open more hours. We have staff here. We have Wi-Fi, we have computers, we have resources, we have warmth. There are just so many things we can do to help, to educate.”

A space and concept

The goal for the new Oregon library is to break ground in 2021, says Carpenter. The city of Dodgeville has a way to go before even contemplating a groundbreaking date.

The new Pinney Library will open at 11 a.m. on March 12 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. A “Grand Opening Weekend” will follow March 14-15, where visitors can learn about the technology at the library and tour the new spaces.

One of the defining features of the branch is a new concept for Madison’s libraries: a dedicated children’s programming space called the PlayLab.

“We want to make sure every kid is ready to go to kindergarten and we think public libraries are a big part of that conversation,” says Elias of the Madison public library.

Like the Bubbler at the Central Library, the PlayLab is both a space and a concept, she adds.

“We have heard in our work with the early learning community that there is a big need for professional development in those areas,” says Elias. Ditto a need for teaching parents about their children’s development and how they can advocate for their children in those early learning years.

The library will be working with a large group of partners to hold educational workshops in the PlayLab and “to be kind of a learning lab for early literacy efforts,” says Elias, who notes the lab will also work to build connections among the many groups in Madison that work in this area.

At the same time that the Madison library system, in general, is creating more community partnerships within its walls, it is also going mobile. Librarians on the “Dream Bus” go to different neighborhoods where there might be additional barriers to getting to the library, including transportation issues, says Elias. The bus has visited such destinations as the East Madison Community Center and Leopold School. It “extends the library,” says Elias.

The librarian’s role through all of this informational and institutional change has remained constant in one way, says Elias. “It is still to provide expert service. To be a bridge between the material and the customer’s needs.

“Since the internet, people have been saying ‘Why do you need a public library, it’s all online?’ What we’re finding is that the librarians and the library staff are really connectors in our communities…. We are connected to a lot of different community activities and libraries are places where everybody can come. You don’t need to pay to be there. We try to be welcoming to everybody in the community. All of our resources are free. Libraries are really one of those unique public spaces that I don’t think the internet is going to put out of business.”