New Jersey Urban Libraries: Challenges and Strategies for Change

Many of the problems facing urban libraries also confront libraries in suburban and rural settings. What distinguishes the urban situation is the scope and severity of the problems exacerbated by the critical, complex and diverse needs of the populations served. For example, while homelessness is not limited to urban centers, the numbers of homeless in cities is much greater than those in other areas. While many communities in New Jersey are experiencing an influx of new immigrants, cities tend to draw those who are less educated and have more limited job skills. While all public libraries must deal with local funding issues, relationships with schools, facilities needs, and collections, technology, and staffing issues, urban libraries face factors and forces that must be dealt with in each of these areas.

State Librarian, Norma Blake, asked the Urban Libraries Section to define the unique challenges urban libraries face and to propose strategies for change. Leslie Burger, President of NJLA, facilitated a meeting of section members (list of attendees appended) on January 11th, where they offered their observations and suggestions. Cindy Czesak and Marianne Avery compiled a draft report of their consensus views. The draft was distributed for review, discussed at a second meeting on February 8th, and then revised to incorporate changes and to add new material that members recommended.

This report highlights the critical issues facing New Jersey’s urban libraries and provides specific recommendations for actions. Urban Libraries Section members, NJLA, or the State Library, can simply and speedily implement some of these initiatives. Others, though, require more long-term and concerted development by urban librarians working with these agencies and others. The Urban Libraries section requests, therefore that the State Library convene a summit of urban libraries and their supporters to provide the impetus for that more expansive effort.

Challenges and Strategies for Change

Challenge: Funding
The tax base in urban areas in New Jersey is weak, with few commercial ratables. As a result, property tax rates are high, but are still insufficient to meet the financial needs of the city. School funding takes a large proportion of the local budget, as it does in most communities. Urban libraries are forced, then, to compete with other city agencies for a meager slice of an inadequate fiscal pie.
Strategies

Challenge: Public Schools/Public Libraries

With few exceptions, New Jersey urban libraries serve students in Abbott districts (a list accompanies this report). While the state government has recognized that Abbott school districts have pressing needs that warrant special funding, no similar mandate funds support of the public libraries in those districts. In many urban areas, the public library serves de facto as the school library; the school library may either not exist at all or may be poorly staffed, with obsolete collections and little or no technology or programs. Most charter schools and private schools lack any library service. In addition, the requirement for free preschool and full day kindergarten classes in these school districts has also placed a large burden on the public library. Urban schools turn to urban public libraries to provide collections, programs, services, and outreach.
Strategies

Challenge: Facilities

Since New Jersey’s urban public libraries were among the first in the state, their facilities are among the oldest. Buildings that are designated historic sites, or, are located in historic districts, merit careful stewardship but the special attention they require makes them more expensive to maintain and restore. Many of these facilities need extensive repair and rehabilitation. When funds are sought for construction in public libraries, these factors merit special consideration so that urban libraries can address these pressing facilities needs.
Strategies

Challenge: Staff Recruitment, Retention, and Training

As the gap widens between the number of professional librarians available nationwide and the number needed to staff today’s libraries, all libraries struggle to recruit and retain quality staff. Urban libraries face the additional obstacle of the common perception, and occasional reality, that urban centers are (at worst) unsafe and (at best) unattractive environments in which to work. In many cases, salaries are lower in urban centers than they are in other areas. New librarians are not as motivated to see the satisfaction inherent in urban library work. The rewards of doing important work for those most in need has not been well communicated to new professionals. At the same time, many current staff have become dispirited after working in daunting circumstances for years. They need revitalized skills and fresh perspectives. Recruitment and retention are even more difficult in municipalities that have ordinances requiring residency of city workers. This restricts the pool of potential applicants even further. For all staff, training and continuing education are critically needed.
Strategies

Challenge: Literacy

The incidence of illiteracy in urban areas is endemic and far greater than urban libraries’ capacity to remedy. Literacy is a lifelong learning challenge, spanning the life cycle from preschool, teen and family programs to adults and seniors. Urban libraries respond with an array of programs but local efforts vary widely and may be less efficient because of a lack of coordination and duplication of effort.
Strategies

Challenge: Collection Preservation, Digitization, and Access

New Jersey’s urban public libraries serve the oldest communities in the state. Their collections are rich with history, not only of their own municipality but of nearby areas, as well as of the state. In order to be prudent stewards of this heritage, urban libraries need funds to carefully preserve the rare, unique and fragile materials in their care. Digitization now provides the means to provide global access to our state’s heritage. Ideally, digitization and preservation should be undertaken concurrently.
Strategies

Challenge: Marketing

All libraries need to better communicate their mission and message to the public and to funders. Urban libraries, in particular, suffer from lack of a positive image in the media.
Strategies

Challenge: Technology

Though much progress has been made in bridging the digital divide, much remains to be done. Residents in urban areas still lag behind other groups in the percentage of residents who own computers. For most city dwellers, the public library provides their sole access to technology. Most technology grants support the purchase of equipment but ignore the critical need for staff to maintain systems and to provide training for the public.
Strategies

Challenge: Targeted grant programs

Urban libraries would benefit greatly from grant programs targeted only for urban libraries to support preservation, collection maintenance, management issues, organizational issues, planning, and services to special populations.
Strategy

General recommendations

While urban libraries share many characteristics, they also vary widely in populations, priorities and potential. This report defines some common traits that can be addressed by statewide initiatives. Each library, however, faces unique local challenges that must be dealt with locally.

The operations of most urban libraries are severely constrained by Department of Personnel regulations, union contracts, levels of local government bureaucracy and a long history of complex local government relations. These forces often impede progress and must be considered in any programs.

The Urban Libraries Section seeks to raise awareness of urban issues to mitigate the unintended negative impact of some actions by the State Library on urban libraries. One example cited above is the exemption of the cost of security staff in the calculation of state aid. Another example is the Technology Grants that were part of the Libraries 2000 initiative. While population was a factor in the amount of awards, need of the library and the need of the population served (i.e., the digital divide) should have been a factor.

The members of the Urban Libraries Section are encouraged by and grateful to the State Librarian for initiating this dialogue on strategies to improve public libraries. We intend to expand on specific recommendations listed above, particularly in recommending other divisions of state or federal government as options. Additionally, a survey of “best practices” in New Jersey’s urban libraries will be compiled and the report distributed widely. In these ways, we hope to continue to work together for the advancement of our libraries and our communities.

NJLA Urban Library Section Meeting
January 14, 2002
February 8, 2002

Attendees
Leslie Burger
President, New Jersey Library Association; Director, Princeton Public Library
Pat Tumulty
Executive Director, New Jersey Library Association
Marianne K. Avery - Newark Public Library
Melissa A. Banks - Somerville Public Library
Robert Belvin - New Brunswick Public Library
William Breedlove - Union City Public Library
Ingrid Bruck - Long Branch Public Library
Cindy Czesak - Paterson Public Library
Joseph DaRold - Plainfield Public Library
Dorothy M. Key - East Orange Public Library
Madathikudy Kuriakose - Trenton Public Library
Kathleen Mollica - Passaic Public Library
Carolyn Ryan Reed - East Orange Public Library
Robert Stewart - Asbury Park Public Library
Joyce Willis - Trenton Public Library