It’s no secret that Santa Cruz’s public library system is facing a deficit. Just about every public service in the county is. The real problem is that they don’t know what to do about it anymore. “We’ve [already] cut everything to the bone,” said Barbara Gorson, who chairs the City County Library Joint Powers Board, after a meeting last night. With property and sales tax revenues falling, the $11.3 million budget is expected to shrink to $10.7 million over the next few years.
One of the prime culprits is the healthcare crisis and the skyrocketing cost of providing healthcare to library employees. Costs are expected to rise 12 percent next year and 8 percent in each of the successive three years, capping at $1.3 million. This and other expenses make it increasingly difficult to purchase new materials.
Board members agree that it would be difficult to cut back any more hours. The library is already closed on Fridays, and some branches are only open two days a week, and then for just four hours a day.
One thing is certain. Libraries are changing in the digital age. Just last year CNN]http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/04/future.library.technology/]CNN reported[/url] on the future of libraries, describing how “Books are being pushed aside for digital learning centers and gaming areas.” A library without books may be a novel idea, but are we really ready for that? Should libraries become a place to play World of Warcraft and to Tweet?
CNN adds that “Many real-world libraries are moving forward with the assumption that physical books will play a much-diminished or potentially nonexistent role in their efforts to educate the public.” But do people really want a world where they must depend on Google to provide them with their books?
Before answering that, consider what the difference really is between a library and a community center. In an ideal world, both would have a place—but that ideal world may be disappearing, at least in Santa Cruz.
