Resolution on
the
Fairfax County
Advertised Fiscal Year 2017 Budget
Library Budget Resolution for FY2017
(Adopted by
Board March 17, 2016)
(Adopted by Membership March 31, 2016)
(Adopted by Membership March 31, 2016)
BACKGROUND
The Fairfax County
Federation of Citizens Associations recommends a modest increase to the FY16
Library Advertised Budget to reverse the significant and disproportionate cuts
sustained to the library since 2009.
Key priorities include investing in library employees, providing
adequate staffing to engage the public and care for the materials collection,
and to increase the physical holdings of the library in order to restore
Fairfax County Public Library to a world-class facility.
WHEREAS, the federal ESSA
(Every Student Succeeds Act) signed into law December 2015 declares public and
school libraries to be essential for public education and worthy of support[1]; and
WHEREAS, the home schooling
of children in Fairfax County saves the taxpayers in excess of $31M every year,
and those children depend on public libraries to serve as their school
libraries, budgeting for their educational library materials must be included
in the library budget; and
WHEREAS, the Fairfax County Public
Library has had its budget reduced to less than 1% (0.007) of the entire $3.99B FY2016 County budget; and
WHEREAS, the County’s
population and cost of living increases since 2004 necessitates a library
budget increase in excess of $10 million to maintain services; and
WHEREAS, the proposed
Advertised budget is inadequate to properly service and maintain current
collection levels; and
WHEREAS, fourteen FTE (full time equivalent) circulation
aide positions with budgeted funds to provide overtime were removed last year; and
WHEREAS, half the library page positions and their
associated funding were removed in 2009; and
WHEREAS, library books are
being discarded because of lack of adequate staff to shelve them; and
WHEREAS, the print collection has been and continues to be decimated
by inappropriate culling with as many discards through the first six months of
FY16 as the entire year of FY15 according to library documents provided to the
Library Board; and
WHEREAS, the Library Board of
Trustees requested an additional $2M to the FY2015 budget to support staff
levels and replenish the nonfiction collection diminished by twelve years of
excessive culling; and
WHEREAS, the Fairfax County
Federation of Citizens Associations included a request for an additional $2M in
their library budget resolution for FY2015; and
THEREFORE,
BE IT
1. Resolved, that the Fairfax County
Federation of Citizens Associations requests that the Board of Supervisors add
$2M to the FY2017 Advertised library budget; and be it further
2. Resolved, that 14 FTE (full
time equivalent) circulation aide positions eliminated in FY2016 and their
budgeted funding be restored to avoid cutting library hours; and be it further
3. Resolved, that the library
page positions eliminated in FY2009 and their budgeted funding be restored; and
be it further
4. Resolved, that appropriate measures to protect and maintain the print
collection be enacted by the Board of Supervisors and the Library Board
including the elimination of "grubby" lists, elimination of the
24-month low-demand review criteria and replacing it with American Library Association
standard 60-month review criteria, allowing volunteers and library staff to
mend lightly damaged books, and allowing donated books with less than four
copies of each title be added to the library's print collection.
[1]
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/advleg/federallegislation/ALA%20-%20ESEA%20Conference%20Overview%20%2811-30-15%29.pdf
For text of complete FY2017 Federation Budget Resolution approved by board see this link:
