Stuck on the Shelf: Evanston Public Library

It's absolutely ludicrous that the Evanston Public Library, a public library in a university town of national stature, should be a poorly funded library compared its peers.

The time has come for Evanston (which prides itself in great public schools and all manner of public resources) to stop the cycle of business as usual for a vital community resource like the public library.

Evanstonians should know that the EPL's book collections are woefully outdated and its electronic resources are at dial-up levels compared to the G4-level array of the resources available at other peer libraries.  But chances are most residents don't – because that's "business as usual" in Evanston city government.

After recently deciding to separate the Evanston Public Library's funding stream from the city budget, the Library Board sent a bold – and very intelligent – message: We are breaking the "business as usual" mentality in the civic center.

Libraries today are much more than quiet places to read a book.  In our technology age, they are the community's main resource for free access to critical knowledge—an increasingly greater amount of it found online at subscription costs few citizens can afford on their own.  

With numerous newspaper articles documenting how libraries have been deluged by jobseekers looking for help finding work, they conduct critical outreach efforts to boost literacy in schools and the community.  They also distribute free school supplies to needy families and offer scores of free cultural programs. 

The list goes on.

Yet recognizing the importance of those needs, Skokie, Northbrook, Arlington Heights, and a host of other towns have placed a priority on building and sustaining excellent library resources to support local education and a host of other community needs, as demonstrated by comparable funding data presented to library trustees.  In contrast, funding for Evanston's library system has languished as the council haggled over EPL's operations budget along with the price of road salt. 

In the last 10 years under city council control, city budget data shows EPL's funding as a percent of the municipal budget has dropped to approximately 2 percent from 3 percent.  Funding for the coming year is the same—all while the cost of obtaining books and electronic resources continue to rise.  The Library Board data also shows EPL's acquisitions budget for new books has been cut 20 percent, equating to 5,000 titles or editions per year that are not on the shelves for Evanston residents.  Repeated efforts by the Library Board to lobby for adequate support have been met in the council with a game of political ping-pong, trading the threat of cuts in neighborhood services (in Evanston's case, the north and south branch locations) for funding new acquisitions and information resources.

Based on the overwhelming outcry of public support generated by groups like EPL Friends, the community does want better library resources.  It's absolutely astonishing that a grassroots organization mobilized on a dime to raise more than $150,000 when the city moved to close the north and south locations. 

That's why the Evanston Library Board did what it had to do by invoking taxing authority under the Illinois Local Library Act.  The state law was created many years ago to provide a stable funding structure for library systems independent of city politics.  Residents will see exactly what they are paying for library services as a line item on their property tax bills. 

And yes, within limits, the Library Board can secure additional revenue from taxpayers, which the board has not done.  As yet another indicator of how underfunded Evanston's libraries are, the Board documents show the current budget equates to .00128 of equalized assessed valuation—roughly half of funding level permitted by law.

The wildcard here is what the politicians will do with 'chargebacks' to the Library for operations costs, which were customarily aggregated in the city budget, such as utilities and telecommunications.  In other communities, responsible municipal leaders have worked collaboratively with their libraries in this regard, appreciating their impact in areas like supporting education and helping the jobless find work.

Gary Rejebian is a Northwestern alumnus and 27- year resident of Evanston.