February 19, 2010 “Dianne, how can I help my library through this time of budget cuts?” I am happy to tell you I have heard that many many times in the last month. There are several answers to this question. First, let’s talk about the return of the very delicious Chocolate Affaire! This is the amazing fundraiser that the Friends of the Library created a few years ago. This Spring, this popular event is being held on Saturday, April 24, from 7:00 – 8:30 pm. Tickets are $15 apiece and can be purchased at the library. Dozens of chocolate treats will fill the library. Live music provided by our friend and Friend, Rachel Pletke, will fill the air. And this year, you can also bid on Silent Auction items! Hate wrapping Christmas gifts? Bid on the “I’ll wrap 20 Christmas gifts for you” item and I’ll wrap them for you. (Trust me … I’m a closet Martha when it comes to this. Just ask my family!) Or bid on Sally Olson’s “I’ll make a DVD show out of the photos from a memorable family event”. Or bid on the Fancy Nancy Birthday Party for 8 little girls. Or the Twilight Eclipse movie-release basket. Or one of several dozen other choices. Want to contribute something to be auctioned off?  Please call Dianne Pinney at the library: 507-665-2662. And be sure to put this date on your calendar. It really is a wonderful evening.    

 In addition, the Friends will be hosting another Barnes and Noble Bookfair. This one is on Saturday, May 15. jOn this day, a portion of the sales of all materials purchased at Barnes and Noble in Mankato will be returned to the Friends of the Library (as long as you either use a voucher or ask for one when you check out.) The last bookfair raised over $1000 for the library, all of which is being used to purchase books that the budget cuts would have prevented us from buying. Getting ready to buy those beach reads? Please wait until May 15 and then shop on!!Lastly, the library is looking for a few teenage volunteers to help with the shelving in the summer. Due to our crazy-wonderful Summer Reading Program, circulation more than doubles in the summer months. Does your teenager need service hours for confirmation or school? Is he or she looking for volunteer opportunites to add to a college resume? We can use them!! Have your student talk to Dianne and we’ll do what we can to help each other.  

January 28, 2010    If you’ve lived in Le Sueur forever, you might dispute the notion that I, a born and bred New Yorker, am finally nearing “native status”. It only took 30 years! That is why the recent difficult news of library budget cuts is hard to deliver to you. I love my job. I have loved being Le Sueur’s librarian since I was … erp … 26 years old. (My daughter’s age now.) Providing the best library service possible to the wonderful people that live here has occupied an enormous chunk of my adult life.So it is with sadness that I pass on the news that your library, like every other tax-supported service in Minnesota, has been dealt some very hard budget cuts. In the last few years, the library board has used its savings to cover increased costs, hoping all along to make that money up in increased revenues. But the savings has dwindled and funding has not kept up with increased costs. 

Over the years, the library has had to cut many of the lines in its budget: PR, programming etc. The budget was pared down to staff and materials. In order to cut $100,000 from the budget, the board had only those two areas to choose from. Grim.

  The choices they made started with a 50% cut of the entire materials budget. That means a cut of $45,000 for books, $4500 for magazines, $3700 for audiobooks and $2500 for movies for a total savings of around $56,000.In addition, five of the nine libraries - the three largest (Waseca, Le Sueur and Montgomery) and the two smallest (Elysian and Waldorf ) - will close for two weeks (12 days) this year. All library staff members will be taking those two weeks without pay, and wages will remain at the 2009 level. This amounts to a nearly 4% pay cut for staff. The remaining libraries – Janesville, Waterville, New Richland and Le Center could not be closed less than the 20 hours they are presently open without losing the telecommunications grants that we all receive to provide free Internet service to library patrons.This cuts $48,000 in wages and employer taxes from the library system’s budget.

   Needless to say, the closings will be difficult. But the cuts to the materials budget will be devastating. It is nearly impossible for a library system to come back from cuts of that magnitude. Going back and purchasing what you should have purchased two or three or four years ago isn’t usually feasible. As your librarian, the person who has tried to provide the best collection of materials for the needs of the people who live here, that gap in the library collection is what makes me the saddest. Yes, Le Sueur has one of the best Friends of the Library groups in the state of Minnesota. And, yes, they will be doing all they can to plug the holes in the dike. But they will not be able to do it alone.

Please. Support your Friends of the Library.

Please. Let your County Commissioners and your State Representatives and your Governor know how important libraries are to you.

In the meantime, we will continue to work hard to be the best library we can for you.