Leadership Views

As published in the October 1, 2007 Toledo Business Journal

 Clyde Scoles, Toledo-Lucas County Public Library

Clyde Scoles
Director, Toledo-Lucas County Public Library

 

A community jewel faces
levy campaign

Toledo Business Journal recently interviewed Clyde Scoles, director of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library. He shared the following thoughts.

Toledo Business Journal: The business community is a very active user of the library’s resources, and the downtown facility has extra capabilities and support. How does the business section of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library compare to other systems in cities the size of Toledo?

Clyde Scoles: Libraries are the source for new online business databases that reach entrepreneurs around the clock. Researchers find that, when libraries work with local and state agencies to provide business development workshops and research, market entry costs to prospective and existing small businesses are reduced and new jobs are created. Libraries are also in the vanguard of trying new strategies.

The Toledo-Lucas County Public Library partnered last December with the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce to host Business After Hours, which featured approximately 100 local business people and focused outreach on grantsmanship programs, small business services, and business databases. The library also partnered with Assets Toledo to present three sessions on library resources available to aid in starting a business; the library partnered with the Women’s Entrepreneurial Network (WEN) for five similar sessions designed to assist women in small business start-ups.

Additionally, the library’s business technology staff (BTS) is consistently being trained to assist its patrons. Toledo’s local office of the State of Ohio Treasurer trained library BTS about the types of small business and agricultural financial and assistance programs offered.

TBJ: A levy issue is on the ballot in November for the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library. What amount of your budget comes from levy funding? Please explain the need for the money from the upcoming ballot issue.

CS: The Toledo-Lucas County Public Library board of trustees will ask voters to approve a five-year, two-mill replacement levy on November 6. The levy will help the library better cope with its current financial situation. Library finances have been impacted substantially by a state funding freeze at 2002 levels and steadily increasing costs.

The board of trustees approved this action at a meeting in July.

The library’s two existing one-mill property tax levies (one from 1997 and the other from 2003) expire at the end of 2007. The library will combine the two existing levies into a 2-mill replacement levy.

State funding has been frozen for our public library, so without the additional funds generated by this levy, our system will be dismantled. Our public library is a true community resource, and the proposed replacement levy will fund existing services at a more realistic level. The reality is certain. For our system to continue as the community’s gift to itself, we must compensate for the losses of the past six years while maintaining growth today and support for the future. Unfortunately, the alternative to the levy will be drastic cuts from which we may never recover.

This replacement levy will provide $18.3 million annually, costing the owner of a $100,000 home a total of $61.25 a year.

The levy will take effect in January 2008 and expire in December 2012.

With passage of the levy, the library plans to increase the book budget; continue staffing levels; maintain upkeep of facilities and buildings (i.e. carpet, paint, utilities); replace and increase computer technology; and maintain Sunday hours at five locations (Main Library, Sanger, Heatherdowns, Sylvania, and Oregon).

We would not come to our loyal patrons for assistance in passing this two-mill replacement levy unless it was absolutely necessary to continue the library service the residents of Lucas County have long enjoyed.

TBJ: Can you discuss the extent of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library’s operations in terms of number of branches, number of employees, annual payroll, annual operating budget, and capital expenditures level for the past 10 years?

CS: The Toledo-Lucas County Public Library has 325 total employees at its 18 branch locations, Main Library, and Outreach Services (bookmobile and book hauler).

For the last 10 years, we’ve had a bond issue, which was approved by almost 78% of the voters. It was probably the largest bond issue ever passed in Lucas County; I don’t think many people know about that. It was kind of a major undertaking. It dealt with the Main Library and the 18 branches, and it was a capital program to raise about $37.5 million. Along with that, the foundation wanted to raise another $8 to 10 million.

Some things you see here, like the Civic Plaza and the Vitrolite glass on the walls of the upstairs part of the master lobby, kind of match the ambiance of the old, art deco building. All that was paid for by the foundation, including many of the restorations of the lighting… We didn’t necessarily want to use taxpayer dollars for things like the Civic Plaza or the Vitrolite glass. We wanted more space… For us, it was very important, because almost 75% of our collection was beneath the stairs of the Main Library. We wanted to bring all that out and provide it to the public.

That was what we wanted to really accomplish here. We had to move over a million volumes out of those stacks, and we occupied two city blocks and tore down some buildings and closed the street. We wanted to keep the ambiance of the front and sides of the Main Library distinct and unique as they were built in 1939 or 1940.

The restoration, renewal, and upgrade of the Main Library in 1995 was a three-year project with several phases, and we chose the bond issue because we needed the funds up front. We couldn’t do it as a capital levy where you get your money a little bit each year. We’d be building for ten years, and you know how costs rise from one year to the next. We knew we had to do it in a different way with the bond issue.

TBJ: Can you explain the major projects for which capital funds were invested over the past 10 years?

CS: We did a new Point Place, a new Sanger, restoration at West Toledo with an expansion, an expansion of parking lots at Oregon Branch Library, an expansion at Reynolds Corners, and an expansion of Washington Branch. Along with the new [construction], we went back and replaced and restored existing buildings. All that took place over a 10-year period. The most recent building is the Locke Branch library; that is the last project and will conclude the capital program.

We also use State income tax money. Libraries are funded in two ways: we are funded by an operating levy and then we’re funded by the earmarking of a state income tax… The income tax became almost our bread and butter. And along with that, libraries can go to the public for additional funding if they can prove need. So, that’s what we have done since 1977…

We receive well over 50% from the State, and the other 50% comes from the property tax. So that’s how critical this particular levy is in reference to all the things we do here… We have one foot in the 500-year-old publishing industry and another foot in the technology of the future… From that standpoint, our funding has been kind of up and down; now we’re in a situation where it gives the public an opportunity to give us our report card and tell us how we’ve done.

TBJ: Can you discuss figures and trends concerning the usage of the library facilities by area residents?

CS: Today, it’s not just circulation [that we measure] but visitors, participants in story hours and programming, hits on our website, and a great deal of other activity.

In terms of quantification, we look at how many people are using the library on a per capita basis. At one time, USA Today named us as one of the top five cities in the nation in terms of our per capita. That was back in the late 1980s.

Also, we have noticed a lot of [library] use outside of books; people learn various ways in today’s world. They learn with tapes, eBooks, iPods, and downloading… We have access to what’s called “Overdrive,” where you will be able to access the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, and the National Geographic Channel. We have eBooks and eText where you can read the book on your palm pilot. We measure that [use] on our website.

Right now, we’re beginning a project where we’ll have video connectivity with some of our branch libraries to the huge collection down here.

Our summer reading program is also a very strong program here. Many of our teachers are colleagues in other districts and say that they can always tell the difference between those who have gone through the summer reading program and those who have not (in terms of their reading readiness in the fall)… We try to keep that close collaboration going. We feel we are making a good contribution there… We’re trying to make it fun and exciting, because we’re a school outside the school; we don’t give grades, we don’t take attendance, and we don’t charge membership fees. You come to the public library because you want to, whether it’s for recreation, cultural, informational purposes, or to come and be alone for awhile to read and have quiet time… It’s solemnity, a time to sit back and relax.

TBJ: Are there any studies or services that review and rate public libraries around the country? How does the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library compare?

CS: Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings (HAPLR) ranked Toledo-Lucas County Public Library as one of the top 10 libraries in America, finishing eighth on the recently released rankings.

The HAPLR index bases its rankings on 15 variables, such as expenditures per capita and collection turnover, to measure public libraries across America. The Toledo-Lucas County Public Library was ranked eighth for cities with populations of 250,000 to 499,999 based on statistical data compiled in 2004.

We believe that this top national recognition would not be possible without the passage of past levies, which help to maintain our system.

Separately, Toledo’s library system ranked in the top 10 in the America’s Most Literate Cities study by Dr. John W. Miller, president, Central Connecticut State University. Five variables were indexed to determine a total score and consequent ranking: number of school media personnel per 1,000 public school students; number of branch libraries per 10,000 library service population; volumes held in the library per capita of library service population; number of circulations per capita of library service population; and number of library professional staff per 10,000 library service population.

TBJ: We are aware that you attended Ohio State University for your undergraduate degree and then went to the University of Michigan for your graduate work. Would you care to discuss which team you cheer for when Ohio State and Michigan play each other?

CS: Who I cheer for depends on whether I am in Columbus or Ann Arbor… Both schools are very good schools. The University of Michigan has an excellent school of library and information science. Ohio State has a president who is extremely supportive of public libraries… He was impressed with the kind of support that libraries are given in this state.

TBJ: Are there any other issues you would like to discuss?

CS: I think that the library here is certainly one of the community’s assets and jewels. Many times in the evenings, we’re the only public venue that is open downtown. We like to feel that we have helped stimulate the downtown… I think we’re always, as a challenge, trying to make our public more keenly aware of what we do and the services that are rendered that they pay for in so many different ways…

When people move away from the area, they [often say that they] lose something; it’s just not the same. It’s a true tribute to the public here, the support they’ve given us over the years.