Advertising people and press agents say that any publicity is good publicity. I hope that is true. You may, or may not, be aware that library service has been in the newspaper a great deal lately. The controversy centers on who's paying for library service and for whom.
Both Carnegie-Stout and Dubuque County libraries belong to the state of Iowa Open Access program. The terms of agreement states, "The purpose of Open Access is to provide Iowans with direct access to more library materials and information resources. It is a reciprocal borrowing program that enables customers from a participating library to go to other participating libraries and directly check out materials they own." The goal of the program is to increase availability and provide convenient access. The program's initial target was to reimburse each check out at $1.00. The first year of funding, back in 2000, was 39 cents. Due to the success of the program and no incremental growth in funding, the current reimbursement is 19 cents per check out. In 2012, that reimbursement should be closer to $3.00. That substantial gap is what Carnegie-Stout is feeling. They are buying additional copies of books and DVDs because of the demand by county patrons.
Effective October 1st, Carnegie-Stout added another restriction on Open Access (non-Dubuque cardholders) using the downtown library. Open access borrowers can no longer place holds on popular materials and can no longer ask that a book or DVD they are interested in be purchased by the library. This restriction is within the terms of agreement along with other restrictions that Carnegie-Stout already had on Open Access users. Open Access users cannot download materials (ebooks and audiobooks) and they do not have access to the electronic databases such as EbscoHost which are available to local borrowers through the library's website.
Dubuque County Library regrets the inconvenience for those who regularly place holds downtown, but we want county residents to be our customers. We encourage all of our cardholders to place holds with us for those same popular materials. We have shorter waiting lists and if the list for a certain title gets longer, we will purchase additional copies to meet demand. Let us know if you cannot find something in our collection. We will purchase it for you. Dubuque County Library belongs to a consortium to provide a collection of ebooks and audiobooks from our website. Dubuque County Library, because of a state contract, is able to provide access to many of those same databases. If you live in the rural areas of the county, the city of Dubuque, Cascade, or Dyersville, or any of our contracting cities (Epworth, Farley, Holy Cross, Asbury, Peosta, New Vienna, Graf or Luxemberg), visit one of our branches and we will get you a library card.
It is unfortunate that Carnegie-Stout feels the need to pull back at this time. The Dubuque County Library is striving to improve its collection and meet the needs of its customers, but this won't happen overnight. It will take time. This year the County Board of Supervisors approved a significant increase for our materials budget so that we can buy more books and DVDs. With five locations, we need to buy more copies of popular items. Also, the city of Dubuque should remember that county residents contribute significant tax dollars to their coffers because they work and shop downtown. County residents buy breakfasts, lunches, and dinners as well as shoes and hairspray from merchants in Dubuque.
Dubuque has done a wonderful job of improving downtown. There are more exciting stores, the riverside, including the Mississippi River Museum, is invigorating and inviting, and the library is beautiful. This renovation is attracting visitors and conventions from all across the state. It would be a shame if an Iowa resident who is visiting Dubuque could not check out a DVD for their hotel room or an audiobook for the long drive home because Carnegie-Stout is no longer a participating library in the state system.
What needs to be done? Citizens need to reach out to legislators to ask for full funding of the Open Access program. Dubuque County Library needs to continue to grow and provide more resources to its customers. And Carnegie-Stout needs to have adequate resources to remain a partner in the Iowa library community. Everyone who values library service, no matter which library they use, needs to speak up to their legislators, council members, and supervisors. As an Iowan you deserve quality, accessible, library service. You may need to demand it.
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