Library Budget: Employee Survey

Nov 23 2009

The library system is trying to decide how best to cut $3.4 million from its budget.  Below are possible changes to the library that could help us balance our budget.  Please tell us which of these ideas you “love, like, or hate.”  Since this survey is posted on a public site, please send your response to the e-mail address that was provided to you when you first learned of this survey, with "Library Budget" in the header.  All responses will be kept anonymous. 

Thank you!

 

Reduce Hours

1.      Close all libraries on Sundays (community and regional libraries).

2.      Close all community branches on Fridays.

3.      Use staggered hours, so community branches would be open 10-6 Mondays and Wednesdays but open 1-9 Tuesdays and Thursdays, while regional branches were open the opposite hours.

4.      Do not allow “after hours” meeting room use.

 

Reduce Services

5.      Do not answer library telephones on weekends.

6.      Do not clean the libraries each day (skip cleaning on least busy day of the week).

7.      Close information desk Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

8.      Do not fix machine malfunctions in the libraries Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

9.      Expect longer wait for books placed on hold.  Do not have books delivered between library branches five days a week; cut to three or four days and ask volunteers to shift days they work to meet the changing need.

10.  Do not offer library programs on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

11.  Charge a fee for “after hours” meeting room use.  (How much per hour?)

12.  Eliminate 35 deposit collections of books at senior living facilities, nursing homes, and adult care centers.

13.  Eliminate home delivery service of books to 300 people who qualify because of temporary or permanent disability.

14.  Eliminate county employee lending library for video instructional services.

 

Allow Advertisements

15.  Allow businesses/ individuals to pay to advertise in the meeting room.

16.  Allow businesses/ individuals to pay to advertise on the book shelves.

17.  Allow businesses/ individuals to pay to advertise in the quiet study cubicles.

18.  Allow businesses/ individuals to pay to advertise on materials distributed during outreach programs to local schools and other groups.

19.  Allow community groups that are NOT nonprofits to put their community announcements on the community information board for a small fee.

 

 

Add Food/ Beverages

20.  Sell cookies or other “bake sale” items on weekends.

21.  Sell coffee in the library. 

22.  Let a professional coffee chain open a mini-store in the library.

 

 

Add Fees

25.  Charge a fee each time a library patron requests a book be brought from another library branch. (How much?)

26.  Charge a fee each time a library patron returns a book to “a different branch” (not the one where the book was checked out).  (How much?)

27.  Charge a fee when patrons sign up to attend a library program. (How much?)

28.  Add a small sales tax (one-eighth of one percent) to purchases in Fairfax County, with the revenue dedicated to the library system. 

 

Add Programs/ Change Programs

29.  Add “after-hours” programs for patrons willing to pay a fee (murder mystery party, dinner with an author, etc.).

30.  Offer library outreach programs to for-profit preschools, daycares, etc., for a set fee.

31.  Allow patrons to rent a Kindle (or similar electronic book reader) for a fee.  (How much per week?)

32.  Allow authors to do book presentations, but library should never pay for this, unless author is a “best-seller” and would be impossible to have otherwise.

33.  Allow authors to do book presentations, but ask that library receive a portion of the author’s book sale profits if selling at the library event.

34.  Provide a code to library patrons attending programs by outside (paid) providers.  Patrons use code if they buy similar programs from the provider, and library receives a “referral payment.”  (It’s like sharing a coupon.)

 

Suggestions for the Entire County

35.  Eliminate programs and events “for all county staff” at the government center, as librarians, teachers, and anyone not located at the center can't attend.  Consider lower-cost alternatives that serve the same purpose but reach more county staff.

36.  Cut “pay for performance” levels so that a supervisor is not eligible for a larger increase than lower level staff.

37.  Eliminate the “deferred retirement option” program so that more county employees will retire.

38.  Ask all county employees to take a furlough week.

39.  Publish all county agencies’ budgets online with descriptions of each program so residents know exactly where our money is spent and can make more intelligent suggestions.

 

Other

23.  Eliminate library grants office.

24.  Eliminate administrative positions that could be covered by county-level administrative positions (communications, IT, marketing, etc.).

40.  Set out a donation box to collect money in each branch.  (How much would you likely donate in 2010?)

41.  Set out a box to collect fresh budget-cut ideas.  Offer a prize ($25 Walmart gift card) for the best idea each month.

42.  Suggest another idea:_______________________________________