To see how New York City’s library systems stack up next to other big cities’ libraries in terms of government support, you might want to check the cookbook shelves under “chopped liver.”
In Columbus, Ohio, the libraries are open an average of 29 more hours a week. San Francisco’s receive up to three times as much per capita from the local government.
Meanwhile, New York’s three public library systems — workhorses all — are trying to do more with less: the city’s contribution to their operating budgets has declined by more than 7 percent, adjusted for inflation, over the past decade, even as circulation and program attendance have increased.
That’s the conclusion of an analysis of New York’s libraries and a comparison with 21 other major American library systems, plus Toronto’s, published Tuesday morning by the Center for an Urban Future.
In per capita circulation, the New York Public Library (which covers Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island) and the Brooklyn and Queens systems rank 10th, 11th and 9th, respectively; in attendance at public programs, 12th, 4th and 10th; and 12th, 15th and 20th in average hours per week.
New York City’s libraries are open an average of 43 hours a week, about the same as a decade ago and down from a high of 47 hours. “Even the Detroit public library system stays open longer;” the report noted. Columbus’s libraries are open an average of 72 hours a week. Despite the relatively short hours, the study found, New York City’s libraries “have experienced a 40 percent spike in the number of people attending programs and a 59 percent increase in circulation over the past decade.”
San Francisco’s government contributed $101 per capita to the city’s libraries, the highest of any city in the study, while New York’s library systems all received between $30 and $40 per capita, below Seattle, Boston, Detroit and others.
Among other findings of the study, “Branches of Opportunity” (pdf – see also below), funded by the Charles H. Revson Foundation: some of the biggest increases in library use in the city were in immigrant neighborhoods and in the Bronx; growth was slowest or even declined in branches that were isolated or near public-housing projects; libraries have not been rendered obsolete by technology and “in today’s information economy, libraries have only gotten more important, not less.”
Over 40 million visits were paid to the New York, Brooklyn and Queens systems in the 2011 fiscal year, the center said, or more than the combined attendance at all the city’s professional sports games or major cultural institutions. The libraries circulated 69 million books and other materials and responded to 14.5 million reference questions.
“Although they are often thought of as cultural institutions, the reality is that the public libraries are a key component of the city’s human capital system,” the center said. “With roots in nearly every community across the five boroughs, New York’s public libraries play a critical role in helping adults upgrade their skills and find jobs, assisting immigrants assimilate, fostering reading skills in young people and providing technology access for those who don’t have a computer or an Internet connection at home.”
The analysis found that only 20 percent of applicants for English language courses at some branches are placed, that the Woodside branch in Queens has begun stocking books in Nepali (Flushing has the highest circulation of any branch or central library in the city), and that the New York Public Library is planning to give all 1.1 million students library cards because so many schools lack their own libraries or librarians.
The analysis recommended that the city government contribute more to help extend hours, among other things; let libraries receive state funding for adult literacy programs; and create collaborations with arts and other nonprofit and commercial partners.
Jonathan Bowles, director of the Center for an Urban Future, said in a statement: “Libraries are uniquely positioned to help the city address several economic, demographic and social challenges that will impact New York in the decades ahead — from the rapid aging of the city’s population (libraries are a go-to resource for seniors) and the continued growth in the number of foreign-born (libraries are the most trusted institution for immigrants) to the rise of the freelance economy (libraries are the original co-working spaces) and troubling increase in the number of disconnected youth (libraries are a safe haven for many teens and young adults).”
“On the downside,” he said, “we find that New York policy makers, social service leaders and economic officials have largely failed to see the public libraries as the critical 21st century resource that they are, while the libraries themselves have only begun to make the investments that will keep them relevant in today’s digital age.”