Last month, the city council passed the final 2009/2010 budget plan. (The complete highlights are here.) The budget includes the following distribution to our library system:

Library Collections – City Council added $300,000 to the proposed 2009/2010 budget to provide a total of $800,000 in additional funding to support the following:
* Increase supplies of popular titles in all formats (books, digital media, etc.)
* Expand collections of online materials.
* Enlarge collections of ESL materials.
* Enhance children’s collection and increase selections of early literacy materials.
* Replace public computers.

$800,000 is not a lot for a system the size of Seattle’s to maintain a decent collection, especially when it includes computers and digital media, but I think the council did a good job balancing the need for basic human and civic services with less quantifiable quality of life and culture issues. This does mean that patrons can expect to see fewer new titles added to the system, both in terms of variety and number of copies of titles purchased, over the next two years, and books that leave the system, due to loss, theft, or damage may not necessarily be replaced. This is, of course, speculation on my part, though I dare to venture that it is informed speculation.

In other library news, Susan Hildreth, currently State Librarian of California, has been selected by the SPL board as our new City Librarian/CEO of SPL. A start date has not been announced, but she is expected to begin in early 2009.

Ms. Hildreth was appointed State Librarian of California by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in July 2004. The largest library system in the nation, the California state library has an annual operating budget of $75M, in addition to federal and state distributions, a massive construction bond program, and a cultural facilities program of $128M. Previous to her appointment to State Librarian, Ms. Hildreth served as city librarian for the City and County of San Francisco’s Public Library, managing a staff of 650 employees and a $59M annual operating budget. The Seattle Public Library currently employees 710 people with an operating budget of just $50M. The difference in budgets is notable. Will Ms. Hildreth rise to the challenging of managing an underfunded library system in one of the US’s most literate cities? Seattleites rely heavily upon our library system, placing demands upon facilities and media collections that other municipalities don’t face.

The complete press release is here.

Of particular interest to my household, starting January 4, 2009, the West Seattle Southwest Branch will be open on Sundays. Huzzah! Southwest is the only large branch that is closed on Sunday, which makes coordinating our weekly library trips a royal pain. The Southwest branch will be open 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM. The High Point Branch, a couple of miles north, which currently has Sunday hours, will lose them to Southwest; the adjustment is due to the relative size and patronage of the two branches.

The renovated Southwest branch is twice the size of High Point, has a larger collection, more staff, and more computers. The $6.2M Southwest improvement project increased footage by 6,787 square feet, upgraded equipment and technology, and transformed the parking lot from a death trap into a mere inconvenience. Southwest also got some neat public art in the project, to complement the facelift. The Southwest Branch improvement project was the 22nd project completed as part of the “Libraries for All” building program.