Werds our for terds.

People still visit the library?

WHERE WILL THE BUMS POOP ON MONDAYS?

Just don't mess with Sunday. That's my weekly ritual.

They should just shutdown the main library, buy a warehouse to store materials and put all of the emphasis and resources on the neighborhood libraries. Those actual serve a purpose other than, as Graham pointed out, being a place for the homeless to flop/deficate during the day.

The main library downtown is the coolest best biggest baddest library around. I love the place. Many thousands of non-homeless folks use it each and every day. I have been so happy to have this library for my use with the amazing amount of hours it is open. This is the library I am at right this minute. I think Chuck needs to not use the main library if he is soooo offended by fellow human beings that do not live their lives the way he thinks that they should...

Everyone is going to be using the main library a whole lot less when libraries go the way of record and movie rental storefronts, a day which is rapidly approaching. My suggestion was only a fiscal one.

So scare tactics before the vote on the taxing district?

If you want to help the county and schools, oppose the new use or expansion of urban renewal in Portland.

Blabby, I thought the same thing - scare tactic before the votes.
They shoud cut the 'security' from the library payroll before anything else. I'm pissed every time I see one of those people at the library.

Another thought - since they have installed the new self check-out system at my local Hollywood branch, I haven't noticed any reduction of people working there on a shift. I may be wrong, but it sure doesn't seem like it.
And as in the private sector, modernization usually leads to less need for human workers.

They always close and cut things before these votes. Look at the parks and schools cuts before votes. Too bad we can't vote on urban renewal, police contracts, and sports stadiums.

"You can still take stuff home free frm the library. Video and record stores, not so much."

Libraries are going to run into the same problem video and record stores did. That would be the internet. It doesn't have anything to do with paying for it. Most material at the library is now easily accessible online.

Portland State University - significantly increased enrollment for several years in a row? RAISE TUITION, CUT STAFF AND CLASS OFFERINGS.

Multnomah County Library - circulate 22.7 million items in a year in a town of 735,000 people? SEVERELY CUT BUDGET AND CLOSE LIBRARIES.

We have some real visionaries running things in Portland, don't we?

Libraries are going to run into a problem at some undefined point in the future when physical media are no longer important? Maybe, but that's not relevant right now. If it were, the country library system's circulation rates of physical media wouldn't be as unbelievably high, as they are.
It's a funding issue.

Thank you frankieb... A bit of rationale thought versus the self interested blather from folks who simplify the problem of accessibility to books and other community resources to the internet silver bullet. HELLO FOLKS WITH PRIVILEGE (AKA those of you who own a laptop and have the luxury of using free internet at Stumptown, to blog all day while every one else is working) not everyone has access to the internet! In fact many people go to physical branch locations to use the inter-web. I better get back to work before I get fired...

I meant to say county library system, not country, obviously

The Multnomah County Library currently has the highest budget in the country for library systems serving similar sized populations (500,000-1,000,000). With a budget of 63 million, serving 735,000 people, the per capita expenditure is $85.71. According to the Library Journal, this is 2.32 times the per capita expenditure for similar sized library systems, which is $36.92.

The Seattle Public Library has a budget that is 20% lower than MPL, yet it has a larger collection, 7 more branches and is open longer hours than MPL.

These are scare tactics. Ask the Multnomah County Library what they are doing with their very generous budget.

Closing a few days would be good for the system. There is a multitude of operational costs that go into running the library system. Being closed a few days would allow for reduction in those costs. MC taxpayers have been made to pay for may infrastructural improvement over the last 15 years and it is time to give them a break. the improvements to the facilities will not disappear and neither will the function and purpose of the system. I support this change and I do not support any more additional funding of the library system.

Hold the phone, people. This YOUR library we're talking about here. This isn't a discussion about reducing funds on a pet project, building a bridge, or throwing a party. This is the library for goodness' sake. Even the Romans saw value in a library, a gathering place, a place to consume and share knowledge, a central source of pride for a community. The library is THE place to exercise your human right to enjoy: 1) free information, 2) peace and serenity, and 3) civic pride. Where else can you get those things? A coffee shop or bookstore?

Why are we even talking about this?

#30 claims "closing a few days would be good for the system." Why? Would it be good for the users that rely on "the system" on the days in question? You want a tax break--fine. But at the expense of the library? C'mon. And #19 claims that most of what the library offers can be found online. Yeah sure, except 1) an interaction with a librarian (who is more than just a guardian of old paper, btw), 2) the possibility of bumping into another human being in order to strike up an actual conversation, and 3) the ability to marvel over the fact that indeed the library stores things the internet actually does NOT have for free: Sheet music, original records, maps, and other historical documents come to mind.

And #26...really? Your statistical analysis isn't very compelling. We're talking about the benefit of the library for its users here right? So, what's the cost per user, or better, what's the cost per item in circulation? MCL: 23 million items in circulation, $63 million budget=$2.73 per item. Seattle: 11 million items, $52 million budget=$4.72 per item. Seattle summer readers: 10,000. Portland summer readers: 100,000. You can play around with the numbers all you want, but the fact is that for the budget that MCL does have (and I HOPE they will be granted by the voters) it is used by a huge volume of citizens, used regularly, and brings real value (it's FREE!) to the community.

What are we going to debate closing or cutting back on next? Forest Park?

The Multnomah County Library's budget has increased 40% since 2004, and about 15% since 2008. At a time when almost all people and government departments have had to do more with less money, MPL is doing less with more money. Were talking about a 10% cut here- which would still give MPL a larger budget than 2008. Yet they claim they'll have to close the library one day a week and reduce their staff and purchases? Come on!

As for the circulation figures, that has a lot to do with MPL's liberal renewal policies. Many people take out books for months at a time, renewing them online. Every renewal ticks up the circulation figure by one. So one book renewed every 2 weeks for a year while it sits on someone's shelf would add 26 to the circulation figure- when in fact it isn't actually circulating.

As for the comparison with the Seattle Public Library, the Library Foundation has ranked it higher than MPL over the past two years.

People in Multnomah County lose their homes in tax sales every month because they can't afford ever increasing property taxes. Meanwhile, MPL, whose budget has been on steroids for the past decade cries poor. Give me a break.

If measure 26-125 passes in May it will result in the renewal of .89/$1000 levy that has been in place for the last 5 years. Because of property value compression the bottom line will be a 10% reduction in the available dollars from the levy. Yes, their budget will have to decrease, or they will have to look for a re-balancing source, most likely from their own library fund. Nowhere is the library claiming that passage of 26-125 will cause the closure of branches or the reduction of hours. The way you word your statement is incorrect.

A no vote on 26-125 will cancel the levy altogether and leave the library without approximately 58% of last years operating budget. Under this scenario is how we would see library closures, decreased hours, and lost jobs. The library has been clear about that. You haven't.

Regarding the circulation figures, so what? Lending is lending is lending. Besides, isn't this an industry standard?

Ever increasing property taxes, even in the face of lost market value and compression, are the result of Measure 50, passed almost 15 years ago. Every real property owner, whether commercial or residential, deals with this. It seems you want the library to be the bogeyman for everything that's wrong with property taxation laws. Are you really using this issue as an example of why people are losing their homes?

Give ME a break.

You seem to be confused DanB. The cuts proposed and outlined in the above article assume the passage of 26-125. I suggest you read the library directory's letter outlining the proposed cuts.

If measure 26-125 passes, the 10% decrease in funding caused by compression would still give MCL a budget that is higher on a real and/or per capita basis than almost every library system in the country, including library systems that are ranked higher than MCL by the Library Journal , such as the Columbus Ohio library and the Seattle library. Yet MCL claims that it wouldn't have enough money to keep the libraries open on Monday.

Either MCL's administration is lying and using the cuts as as scare tactic to pass the the library district in November, (which would increase the levy by 33%) or they're grossly mismanaging the tax revenues they receive.