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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information contact:

Bettendorf Public Library: Faye Clow, director. 563/344-4183

Davenport Public Library: LaWanda Roudebush, director. 563/326-7832

LeClaire Community Library: Kim Kietzman, director. 563/289-4242 (option 4)

Scott County Library System: Pam Collins, director. 563/285-4794

Consensus: Jennifer Wilding, project director. 816/531-5078 (media only)

Scott County public libraries release Libraries Together report on unification

(November 14, 2005) The four libraries in Scott County today released the fourth of six reports of their Libraries Together project. The report, "Four into One: Unifying Libraries in Scott County, Iowa," looks at different options for creating a unified library and some of the changes needed to make it possible.

The libraries kicked off Libraries Together on March 1, 2005. The ten-month study will use public input to plan for the future. As Iowa searches for ways to deliver all government services more efficiently, the libraries initiated the study to allow Scott County library patrons to help shape the directions their libraries will take over the next several decades.

Highlights of the unification report include:

  • There are several different structures within which libraries have unified funding and governance to one extent or another. Iowa law allows for two types of non-municipal libraries – county and multi-jurisdictional – as well as for 28E agreements that can be used by municipalities to provide joint services.
  • Efforts to create unified libraries often collapse around issues of tax equity and power sharing. There is also a significant trend nationwide for affluent communities to withdraw from formerly unified libraries as well as to pull out of reciprocal borrowing agreements.
  • Of the possibilities currently allowed by Iowa law, directors of the four libraries in Scott County gave the highest marks to 28E agreements, which could be entered into for some or for most aspects of library services. Of the other options, directors gave the highest marks to library districts, which give a library taxing authority and, therefore, more stable funding. Iowa’s neighbor, Illinois, has nearly 300 library districts, the largest number of any state.
  • There are 15 county and city-county (unified) libraries and 9 municipal libraries that serve about the same population as live in Scott County. Per capita spending for libraries in Scott County, at $36.90, is just slightly higher than the averages for either municipal ($29.75) or unified libraries ($31.37).
  • If the four libraries became one unified library, with the same property tax levy county-wide, residents would see the amount they pay rise or fall depending on the tax capacity of their community and the current tax rate. Assuming that the total amount collected for library services would remain the same, residents in Bettendorf would pay 3 percent more and those within the Scott County Library system would pay 34 percent more. Residents of Davenport would pay 8 percent less, and residents of LeClaire would pay 67 percent less.
    •

    The Libraries Together project is designed to give county residents an opportunity to review the facts, consider the various options and consequences of action, and identify which options they prefer. The study, conducted by the non-profit Consensus organization, will include a county-wide survey on options for action and a series of public forums, as well as the customer satisfaction survey already completed.

    Consensus is a Kansas City-based non-profit organization with 20 years of experience garnering public input to guide public policy. Among Consensus team members is Thomas Hennen, director of the Waukesha County Federated Library System in Wisconsin and author of the HAPLR Index, which rates the nation’s libraries.

    Consensus will deliver a final report detailing options for actions in December 2005. The report will not offer recommendations, but instead will offer several possible options for the citizens of Scott County.

    Funding of Libraries Together is made possible by the Scott County Regional Development Authority, the Riverboat Development Authority, the State Library of Iowa using federal funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Library Services and Technology Act, as well as the Friends of the Bettendorf Public Library and each of the four public libraries.

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    The four libraries of Scott County created Libraries Together as a means to be proactive in responding to shifts in how the state and local governments provide services. In its first phase, the libraries have requested an objective outsider’s look at options for improving library service. The 10-month effort will engage the public through surveys and public meetings. The final report will include a range of options, from simple operational efficiencies to consideration of complete change for all four libraries, and the likely staff, board and public response to each.

    For more information visit the Libraries Together website at www.librariestogether.org.

     

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    Copyright © 2005 Libraries Together
    Last modified: 09/19/05