Daily Local News: September 2, 2003

County bookmobile can ride again
Elizabeth Smith , Guest Columnist 09/02/2003
This newspaper’s editorial titled, "Even good services such as bookmobile must be sacrificed" (DLN, Aug. 6), stated that the cost of running the Chester County bookmobile was too high, that it is "painfully obvious how much the service costs," citing Library System Director Cecy Keller’s figure of $7 per book borrowed. Your implication is that the cost is so high that the county and library cannot afford one.

We dispute Keller’s figure, and we dispute your implication.

Is the $7 figure accurate? It’s hardly truthful and certainly questionable. According to the library board, the total cost of the bookmobile in 2002 was $56,000; divide this figure by the circulation rate of 12,000 (again, this is library data) to get a rate of $4.67. But consider, too, that the bookmobile was broken down for a significant part of 2002; we would have to account for this down time to calculate an accurate figure.

Additionally, in the mid-1990s, the library administration redirected the bookmobile’s outreach mission by limiting its scope and consciously failing to promote it, another factor in creating a higher per-item figure. More importantly, however, is the fact that most libraries don’t use circulation data when evaluating a bookmobile service; instead they ask: Have we reached our target population? Have we exposed children to a library experience? Have we helped children improve their reading skills? How many senior citizens feel less isolated because they experienced contact with others? Have we been able to reach out to minorities and isolated county residents? [Great American Bookmobile and Outreach Conference Agenda]

The larger question: Can the county afford the service? Of course it can. Money is available; all that is lacking is the will to apply for it. Many sources of funding specifically for bookmobiles are readily available, yet it has been 16 years since the library/county has sought any of them. Federal, state, and local grant money exists in abundance for bookmobile outreach services. Head Start has purchased new bookmobiles for counties across the country. Corporate sponsors, such as Citizens Bank, sponsor bookmobiles in several Pennsylvania counties. Private foundations, such as the Mellon Foundation, have awarded bookmobile grants in Pennsylvania.

A Chester County businessman has generously offered to donate a bookmobile, and several local businesses have stepped forward, offering donations. Can the county afford the service? Of course it can.

Bookmobiles are an efficient and effective and widely used tool for outreach not only across our county, but also across our state and across our country. Most of these entities are less affluent, less able than Chester County to afford a bookmobile, yet Montgomery County, for example, has four bookmobiles and a staff of 14 for its bookmobiles alone, plus a fleet of outreach vans.  Berks County has three bookmobiles.

How have these counties, less affluent than Chester, been able to afford bookmobiles? Where did they get their funding? Simple: they asked for it. They asked for it from the very sources that Chester County is ignoring.

Consider, too, that a bookmobile, which is a mobile library, is efficiently able to respond to population shifts, can better serve changing demographics, and costs less to operate than an expensive new library.

Our library administration has failed to support what everyone agrees is a fine service. It is obvious that promoting, supporting, funding, and maintaining a vital, efficient bookmobile service is not a matter of money. It is a matter of will. We challenge readers, this newspaper, and other county residents to ask why our library has not made restoring this service a priority, and to ask why our county government is not supporting this service.

The writer, of East Nantmeal, is a member of the Citizens Alliance for the Bookmobile.

 

 

Bookmobile’s future on agenda of

library board
John Gentzel , jgentzel@pottsmerc.com 08/29/2003
WEST CHESTER -- Residents interested in saving the services provided by the currently defunct Chester County Bookmobile are encouraged to attend an upcoming meeting of the county library board.

At the Sept. 15 meeting, which takes place at 7 p.m. in the Exton library, citizens will be talking to the board about the benefits of restoring a program that was recently shelved when repairs to the aging bookmobile were deemed too expensive to make.

"We completely understand that there are budget cuts and issues to deal with, but what we’re asking for is to work with us," said Liz Spoke, a resident of Elverson and a founder of the Citizens Alliance for the Book-mobile.

"The bookmobile can respond to changing demographics and varying needs and we can find ways to improve it. We just find it so disheartening that they took it off the budget and considered doing away with the only library for some of the county’s neediest residents."

Chester County Library Director Cecy Keller said the county board was studying the issue closely. And while she wouldn’t elaborate on the various options being considered, Keller said they were supportive of finding a compromise that would continue some kind of "outreach library service to the neediest citizens in the county that falls within the constraints of our budget."

To make the finances work, it’s likely that the bookmobile will undergo some serious "modernization."

"What we’re trying to do now is to see whether we can achieve a bookmobile for the 21st Century," said Chester County Commissioner Andrew Dinniman.

The bookmobile service of tomorrow might include two or more smaller vehicles making rounds, something similar to the service the county currently provides where a van takes books and goes into day care centers and other areas where parents don’t have access to libraries, Dinniman said.

"And not only do they deliver books, but they conduct reading programs as well," he added.

Under the old bookmobile system, numerous books would be placed into the vehicle and it would travel to different locations, allowing patrons an opportunity to peruse through and borrow materials.

Dinniman said the commissioners have talked about placing more computers at area senior centers so seniors could access the library’s materials through the Internet, cutting back on the materials the bookmobile would have to carry with it which would allow the vehicle to be much smaller and ultimately less expensive.

"Why not use technology so people can order the books they want, and smaller vehicles would deliver the books?" Dinniman said. "And they might also have additional books that people could go through. I don’t like we have to be wedded to one vehicle which is expensive, when we can go more places and provide more services without the additional costs."

It wasn’t that the bookmobile program was too expensive to operate, it’s just that the costs of operating the old vehicle became too overwhelming to continue with the status quo.

"The issue was not the funding of the bookmobile, because it was already in the budget," Dinniman said. "The issue is, do you spend $100,000 to purchase another vehicle or is there a less expensive way to get another vehicle and put it into a computerized approach so you can handle more places."

 

Residents try to save bookmobile
John Gentzel and BETSY GILLILAND 08/02/2003
For Liz Smith, the Chester County Bookmobile was an invaluable resource that allowed her to browse and select books to read without having to worry about making the drive to a county library far away.

"I’m certainly a bookmobile patron," the Elverson mother of two said. "It’s so handy and convenient. I can browse the selections on the Internet and then e-mail or call the guy to bring them out.

"It’s been a wonderful service for me," she added, because until just recently, Northern Chester County didn’t have its own library.

Then the bookmobile broke down. And the repairs it needs were deemed too costly to make. Add in the drastic cuts in state funding for libraries, and it all adds up to a decision to shelve, at least temporarily, the bookmobile program.

"One day, it just stopped coming," Smith said. "I was pretty concerned, called and was told that it was just canceled. This program serves some of the county’s neediest folks, and something needs to be done."

County officials are now determining what steps to take next, considering whether the bookmobile should be brought back as it was used before or whether changes should be made so it could continue to serve the library needs of county residents who cannot get to one of the traditional libraries. One suggestion might be mailing books and other library materials, for example.

"It’s been a long tradition in Chester County for the bookmobile to make its rounds," Commissioner Andrew Dinniman said. "And it serves a really important population.

"Anyone can hop in a car and drive to any one of the system branches, but if we take away the bookmobile, the only library for a certain population in the county is gone, and we need to think about those people. I certainly for one would like to see the bookmobile back in operation if there’s a way."

And there are hundreds of others who agree, such as senior citizens who cannot drive or do so with difficulty, shut-ins and people with special needs.

"We’ve formed a citizens alliance to try and get the bookmobile up and running," Smith said. "We understand that things are difficult for the library system right now, but we want to work with the library board to get the service restored and maintained."

Money is a big factor in whether the bookmobile will return in its familiar format. The program’s operational and capital expenses make it very costly to operate.

The county spent $100,000 to purchase the vehicle 16 years ago, and that vehicle needs roughly $7,000 in repairs, according to officials. Estimates for purchasing a new vehicle run as high as $245,000.

One avenue being explored is whether the bookmobile could be resurrected with assistance from private businesses.

Smith said a private organization has come forward and mentioned the possibility of donating a new vehicle.

Even with a new vehicle, the overall operational costs of the program may make it too expensive to continue, considering it costs the county only $2.50 for each material circulated through a traditional library, while the materials circulated through the bookmobile cost $7 each, according to Cecy Keller, the county’s library director.

"It may in fact be a very valuable service, but it is a dollars and cents issue as well," Commissioner Karen Martynick said. "What I’m saying is there may be other ways to provide the same services other than the bookmobile, which is an enormously expensive option."

At the commissioners’ meeting Thursday, Martynick suggested library materials could be taken to local schools as an alternative. Keller also said the library system’s van that visits local day care centers could be used in place of the bookmobile.

Last year 13,000 items were circulated through the bookmobile.

However, said Jeffrey Smith of Elverson at the meeting, this figure is misleading. One person can go to the bookmobile to check out multiple items for other people, he said.

Friday morning Keller said that 23 of 350 registered borrowers in Elverson claim the bookmobile as their home library. Of 157 registered borrowers in Modena, 48 called the bookmobile their home library.

"They can claim that as their home library and use other libraries," Keller said.

Suzanne Graves of Modena also presented the commissioners with a petition from Modena residents in support of the bookmobile.

"It broadens the world of people ... who are in that little valley," she said.

Smith asked that the library system remain open to suggestions from the community.

Keller said service to bookmobile users will be discussed at the next library board meeting.

"The message is coming through loud and clear that the people who use this service are very, very attached to it," Keller said Friday morning. "And we’ll try to do the best we can for them."

Liz Smith’s organization has more than 200 people interested in seeing the bookmobile return to duty. Anyone interested in joining may call 610-286-1975.

"Everyone we’ve talked to has been absolutely supportive," Liz Smith said. "They want this service and recognize that this particular population deserves it."