Public libraries are feeling
the economic crunch, according to representatives of the West Chester Public
Library. They made their plea for more funding from townships when addressing
the Birmingham Township Board of Supervisors on Aug. 15.

Birmingham is one of seven
municipalities served by the library and roughly 1,200 residents are library
cardholders. The township currently donates $1,000 per year, but the library
wants more.

There are roughly 70,000 people
being served, said library spokesman Damon Kletzien. West Chester Borough funds
about 25 percent of the operation, he said, with the remainder coming from the
six other municipalities as well as the state and the county. Five of the other
six municipalities provide “limited support,” while there’s less coming from
the state and county, said Kletzien.

“While times are tough for many
people and organizations, libraries have taken particularly hard hits,” he
said. “State support for our library has decreased by 30 percent over the last
two years and county support has dropped 11 percent.”

While that support has been
reduced, library use has increased by about 20 percent because of the
recession, but the staffing has remained the same, Kletzien said. The increase
in use is in spite of the Internet and e-readers.

“We need to reach out to our
municipal partners for the possibility of additional support,” he said. “On a
per capita basis, Birmingham’s current $1,000 allocation comes out to $.24 per
resident, which is a great return on investment.”

Kletzien said state support is
based, in part, on the level of local government support, adding that the state
recommends local governments to kick in $1 per resident.

“We know that’s a really big
stretch for most, but if a municipality can increase its allocation, that
triggers increased state support,” he said. “We would really be grateful, if,
as you work on your budget for 2012, you would consider the possibility of
increasing your township support to $2,000.”

Kletzien also asked for the
names of residents who might like to serve on the library board. He said there
are no vacancies right now, but would like to consider a Birmingham resident
once a vacancy becomes available.

Library Director Victoria Dow
put some of the figures into perspective. She said the $1,000 the township
currently donates provides roughly 75 e-books that people can borrow, or about
a month’s worth of story time for children, or a month of staff time to help
people fill out job applications on line. Many people, she said, still don’t
have computers, but potential employers want applicatants to apply on-line.

“You want to work at Wawa? You
can’t walk in and fill out a paper application anymore,” Dow said.

She added that many times
people will come to the library to get onto the Internet when their home
service is interrupted, while others will come in with their laptops to take
advantage of the free WIFI when they want a place to work other than the office
or the home.

Supervisors made no decision on
whether to increase its donation to the library. They will hold a public budget
meeting on Sept. 28.

Other business

Supervisors did take action on
two matters. They accepted a bid of $13,000 from Climate Control of Chadds Ford
for a new heat pump for the township building and voted to get bids for the
sale of one of the police cars.

The car is a 2005 Ford Crown
Victoria with 145,000 miles on it. Police Chief Tom Nelling said it needs “a
couple thousand dollars in work.”