After four years of rancor, officials say a short-term deal is in sight to resolve the ongoing dispute over the funding and mission of the Providence Public Library system. But questions still remain about its long-term financial health and the future of the city’s neighborhood library branches.
More than three months have passed since the library’s board of trustees approved a tentative four-year agreement with Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline to maintain city funding for the library. The City Council has yet to approve the agreement, which allow for the closure of some of the nine library branches as early as next July to reduce costs. (City Council President Peter S. Mancini, a Democrat, did not return phone calls or e-mails before press time seeking comment.)
In the meantime, the Washington Park branch remains closed, a particular sore spot for patron groups. “We’re getting a little impatient about it,” said Patricia Raub, chair of the Library Reform Group, a citizens’ group that has pushed for changes in the library system. The library says Washington Park can open as soon as an agreement is reached.
Raub also said the agreement has been amended in recent weeks to include an “escape clause” that would allow the city to purchase the various library branches from the PPL next year in order to prevent them from closing. City officials would then need to decide whether to run the library branches themselves or create a new nonprofit to administer them – though there seems to be little appetite to try either alternative.
The 130-year-old Providence Public Library provides library services to city residents, but is run by a private nonprofit association, rather than the city government. That structure is rare nationwide – only 15 percent of U.S. public libraries are privately owned – but not in Rhode Island; municipal governments own fewer than half the state’s libraries.
When it comes to funding the library’s operations, however, the taxpayer is a senior partner. In the 2007-08 fiscal year, 66 percent of the library system’s revenue, or about $5.5 million of its $8.5 million budget, came from the city and state treasuries, according to the library’s most recent annual report. The City of Providence provided $3.3 million of that total, after rebuffing a request by the trustees to increase its allotment to $5 million.
The remaining one-third of the library’s budget came from the nonprofit association’s endowment, which was valued at around $40 million in June 2007, according to IRS records. (Since 2006, the endowment has been held by a separate entity, the Providence Public Library Foundation.)
There is some dispute over how much of that total should be considered endowment money.
Patron advocates and others argue that roughly 40 percent of it was intended for operating expenses. The library’s trustees, for their part, have said they must safeguard the endowment’s value for future generations. (The trustees’ former chair, Lisa Churchville, who is also general manager of WJAR-TV, did not return phone calls or e-mails requesting comment.)
The library’s hybrid structure – a private group running a public service funded with a significant pot of public money – has led to tensions throughout the library’s history. The arguments have been particularly intense in recent years, following layoffs and a reduction of hours in 2004, as well as repeated threats of branch closings.
“The overlay of mistrust and apprehension has definitely been a deterrent to resolving the strained relationship over several years,” Neil Steinberg, a former Fleet Bank executive who now heads The Rhode Island Foundation, wrote in a 2006 report for the mayor. In particular, Steinberg faulted the library’s leadership for failing to communicate with city officials and the public – a common critique that longtime library director Dale Thompson rejects. “I’ve always thought that was something we’ve done very well,” Thompson said in an interview.
Library programs such as those for young children and the immigrant community, Thompson said, “are developed and implemented in response to community needs.” She also noted that the library received the National Award for Library Service from the federal government in 2001.
Raub said her organization has been frustrated that the trustees have not added any representatives of the public to the board, although she acknowledged some progress in other areas. She and others also say the trustees have not done enough to increase the library’s annual fundraising.
Asked to characterize the strength of communication between the library and city officials, Richard Kerbel, the city’s director of administration, said: “All I can tell you is, we meet.” Library officials emphasize that the City of Providence provides less money for library services than in other cities. In the 2005-06 fiscal year, for example, the city spent $17 per resident on the library, compared with nearly $30 per resident in comparable-sized cities, according to the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
But Kerbel argues that number is misleading because the city’s contribution is meant to provide for the operation of the branches. He also emphasized the library’s sizable endowment, and warned that neither the state nor the city will be in a financial position to increase their contributions in their near future.
Indeed, despite the current turmoil, most observers seem to think the public-private partnership can continue to work. “We’re Providence – it’s small, relatively speaking,” Steinberg said in an interview last week. “I didn’t see any reason why the various constituents, whether the City Council or the board of the library or the patrons of the library, couldn’t all have a workable solution. There’s no fundamental reason why a public-private partnership couldn’t work.”
Kerbel agreed. “It has worked for the last 100 years, and we continue to make a commitment,” he said.
Kathryn Taylor, executive director of the Westerly Public Library, which is also owned by a nonprofit, said she has seen pluses and minuses in the hybrid model, but overall, “It works well down here.” Taylor also praised the Providence system’s work. “It’s our flagship,” she said. “We in the field are very proud of it.”
Nor is the Providence Public Library system alone in facing a budget crunch. Libraries across the country are seeing their budgets cut as local and state tax revenue drops – even though their services often see greater demand during a downturn. Taylor said she has already been forced to cut spending in Westerly, which relies on an endowment for a bit under half of its revenue.
Jan Sanders, a former president of the Public Library Association and director of the department of libraries and information services in Pasadena, Calif., said the paradox is that that more people use libraries during recessions, “because everybody wants to retool their resume or learn a new skill.” She also noted that many jobs have online-only application processes, and libraries provide free Internet access for people who don’t have it at home.
Mark McKinney, Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s representative to the library board of trustees and chairman of the state library board, said the city has been generous to the library over the years, though not as generous as other cities. “The fact is that for a contribution of slightly more than $3 million, the city is getting a wonderful library system,” he said. “I can’t emphasize enough what a strong system we’ve had over the years.”
Thompson said she sees the library’s ongoing mission as providing resources for lifelong learning, from toddlers learning to turn the pages of a book to senior citizens being taught how to use the Internet. “I think the mission remains the same – access to information,” she said.
But Steinberg also said the library may need to pare back its programs in light of budget constraints. “That is the question they ultimately have to answer: What does the library do?” he said. The city and the library must decide whether they want the library’s programs based on either “what can you afford, or how you align the resources with what you have to do.”
The biggest question remains the branches, which provide local access to library services and often act as a de facto community center, as well. “Branches too often are either an afterthought or even viewed as an annoyance,” McKinney said, but he sees them as vital to the library’s work.
Rhode Island Chief Library Officer Howard Boksenbaum said Providence may want to look toward Chicago, which has made branches the key focus of its library system. “They’ve recognized as a city that the branch is the anchor in the neighborhood,” he said.
One solution that both Thompson and Kerbel said is being studied is having library branches move into other city buildings, such as schools that have a declining student population. McKinney and Raub also expressed support for that idea.
Christina Bevilacqua, director of member services, programs and development at The Providence Athenaeum, the historic membership library on Benefit Street, said the question of who has easy access to the library has been a debate for as long as libraries have been in existence. The Athenaeum is hosting a public talk about the history of the Providence library system on Nov. 6, part of a yearlong series of programs on libraries.
“If you really wanted to make a point, threaten to close Rochambeau, and see how long there wouldn’t be funding,” Bevilacqua said, referring to the recently-renovated library branch on the city’s East Side.
Whatever decision is made about how to fund the library system will affect more than the total number of branches, although that is the topic that gets the most attention. It will also determine what the library offers future generations, from the size of its collection to the scope of its technology.
An estimated 1 million people visit the library every year, according to the PPL’s annual report.
Thompson said over the next decade she expects to see more emphasis on the library’s Internet offerings, such as online tutoring and electronic resources, as well as a growing appreciation for the library’s role as a community center. “That building community aspect of the library is going to continue to be very central,” she said, noting the popularity of book clubs, story times and other activities. She also pledged that, despite budget difficulties, the library will not dilute its commitment to “vital and critical services.” •
Correction: Oct. 28, 2008
The original version of this article incorrectly identified Lisa Churchville as the chair of the Providence Public Library Board of Trustees. Churchville was succeeded as chair by William Simmons earlier this month.
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