This is an op-ed from Terry Maynard of the Reston 2020 Committee of the Reston Citizens Association. Â
Fairfax County’s decade-long war to dismantle our public library system has reached new depths:Â First, the County is planning a partial closure of its Sherwood Regional Library in Alexandria beginning in January.
Second, the Board of Supervisors is pursuing an audit of the “Friends of the Library,” which has occasionally and diplomatically criticized the Board’s oversight of the County public library system.
The move to close the second floor of the Sherwood Regional Library for all but 20 hours per week because of budget cuts is only the latest insult to the people of the County who have seen their County library budget cut by more than 20 percent as overall County spending has increased by 15 percent in the last 10Â years.
Now, the second-richest county in the country spends less per capita on its library system than any other area jurisdiction — a third less per household than Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Prince William counties, and much worse compared to others, including only about 39 pecent of what Washington, DC, spends per capita.
And that is only part of the story. During a decade when the library system should have been conserving its assets as budgets shrunk — especially the books and other materials it has already paid for — it has thrown out more than 2.5 million items in its collection.
It is, in fact, throwing out taxpayer property for petty and contradictory reasons. For starters, books get thrown out because of minor damage from use — and thrown out after two years if they are not used and, therefore, undamaged.
With new purchases limited by the budget cuts as well as administration intent, the library system has had a net inventory loss of more than 440,000 items over the last decade, with small increases in the non-book (DVDs, CDs, etc.) and young adult books offset by the loss of more than 400,000 books for adults and more than 100,000 books for children. That’s a 27percent reduction in library collection items per capita in the last decade. Read More
The Fairfax County Public Library Board of Trustees said on Tuesday the county should reject the proposed plan that would bring big changes to county libraries, including Reston Regional.
The supervisors voted to implement the trustees’ recommendations and asked the trustees to give them a timeline for implementation on Jan. 14
Speaking at Tuesday’s Fairfax County board of Supervisors meeting, trustee chair William Jasper showed the supervisors two reports and a list of recommendations about the libraries’ future. He also said the board was not kept up-to-date on the proposed changes — which included a reduction in the number of librarians — or on the procedures that led to thousands of books being thrown out rather than sold to benefit the library.
The proposed beta plan — in which Reston Regional was slated to be a test branch — was introduced last spring. The plan called for reduced staff,  consolidated service desks, and an elimination of  the requirement that branch managers have master’s of library science degrees, among other features.
“There is no sentiment on the Committee, the Library Board of Trustees, staff, or the majority of public commenters to move forward with the Beta Plan, including its reclassification of positions,” the trustees said in their report.
“We found that converting to a Customer Service Specialist Class was demoralizing to staff, and that such a conversion would likely cause those with a Master of Library Science degree to apply for positions in other jurisdictions – not Fairfax County. This would potentially create a future in which there were nearly no professional librarians in any branch.”
There has been significant public backlash, and in September , the supervisors told the library trustees to re-examine the plan. They came back with the list of recommendations Tuesday.
The report also called for creative community partnerships as as a way to increase funding for the libraries, which have seen a significant reduction in funding recently.
“From a budget of over $34 million just a few years ago, the Fairfax County Public Library is now down to a budget of about $27 million,” the report stated. “These cuts have led to a more than 50% decrease in funds for library materials, and the impact has been noted by the public.”
Leaders representing Fairfax County employee groups have written to the county library board pointing out the overwhelming community support for abandoning a proposed “beta plan” that would cut library jobs, services and programs.
Earlier this year, the Fairfax County Library Board announced a strategic plan that would help the system deal with declining budgets and need for new technology. Among the suggestions: cut staff positions, eliminate need for a Masters of Library Science for head librarians, and shift the duties of children’s library specialists. Reston Regional Library was slated to be a beta test location.
But after much public criticism — and the revelation that the library had been discarding thousands of books rather than recirculating them to branches — the board said in September that the plan was on hold until more information could be gathered.
The library board said it hopes to have a revised plan to present to the Board of Supervisors by Nov. 15.
Meanwhile, Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins will host a community meeting featuring members of the Library Board of Trustees tonight at 7 p.m. at Hunters Woods Elementary, 2401 Colts Neck Dr.
The letter from the employees groups says “there is deep and overwhelming support for strengthening our libraries, not for cutting services or jobs” and that “each library should reflect the needs of the community it serves.”
The entire text of the letter, first posted on the Reston 2020 blog, appears below.
October 29, 2013Dear members of the Evaluation and Communication Committee:On behalf of the dedicated employees of Fairfax County — librarians, engineers, deputy sheriffs, mental health professionals and more — we are writing to share our perspective on the recent round of public forums to discuss the future of our libraries. As you know, these forums were intended to elicit public and employee comment on library reforms, after the library board voted unanimously to suspend the “beta plan.” These forums mark an important first step in the effort to engage the community in strengthening our libraries for generations to come.As you prepare your draft report for the full library board, we hope that report will include the following key findings from the public forums:(1) The “Library Customer Service Specialist (LCSS)” job class must be abolished. The LCSS position disregards the rigorous education and experience that professional and paraprofessional librarians bring to their job, and it disregards the essential and critical role of circulation staff in maintaining excellence in our libraries. This makes it harder for Fairfax County to recruit and retain the best and the brightest.(2) There is deep and overwhelming community support for strengthening our libraries; NOT for cutting library services or jobs. As you have heard from nearly every speaker at every one of the public meetings, there is overwhelming support from local residents, families and small business owners for maintaining and strengthening our excellent library system.(3) Youth services departments, with librarians and assistants, are needed at every branch to provide educational support and resources to the community. Concerned residents at every public meeting have spoken out about the need to retain MLS-degreed youth services librarians in every branch to provide reader’s advisory and homework research help to children. Local families will suffer if youth services librarians are cut. County residents expect and deserve strong youth services departments that focus on all the needs of the youngest library patrons, and which support our local education system.(4) We need much more public engagement on a broad scale. Despite the overwhelming support for libraries at the public hearings, we believe that the process so far has failed to engage sufficient numbers of the general public. The forums were organized quickly, and we applaud the committee for their effort. However, there was insufficient advance notice or communication, with most residents unaware that any changes are being proposed to their beloved libraries. We believe that deeper and broader engagement will result in better outcomes.(5) Each library should reflect the needs of the community it serves. The proposed “beta plan” contained both negative and positive reforms. However, we reject the “one size fits all” approach. We believe that each library should reflect the needs of the community it serves. As such, some elements of the beta plan may be well implemented in certain libraries (such as an adequately staffed single-service desk at a small library, and increasing promotional opportunities for all staff), but not others.We thank each of you for your time, effort and commitment to our wonderful public libraries.We know that you feel as we do: that our libraries and librarians foster an unparalleled love of learning and sense of community, which helps move our local economy forward. We look forward to continuing to work with you to ensure that Fairfax County maintains its wonderful library system for generations to come.Sincerely,David BroderSEIU Virginia 512Jennifer McCulloughFairfax County Public Library Employee AssociationPaula WoodrumFairfax County Government Employees Union, SEIU Virginia 512
