Library funding one-third of national average

The Flathead County Library system is running on a budget one-third the size of other similarly sized libraries.

The national average for county libraries servicing 90,000 residents is $48 in income per capita, the Montana average is $23.40, and Flathead County’s is $15.90.

“It is being well-spent, we operate on such a shoestring budget,” Crowley said. “I think we could definitely use more funding, no question about it. But we do a pretty good job with what we have.”

Currently, the FCL’s budget is $1,434,786, but if it were on par with the state average it would be $2,106,000 and at the national average it would be about $4,320,000. According to Crowley their budget didn’t keep up with the county’s growth. She also said in order for their budget to increase the county commissioners would need to approve sending a larger portion of property tax income to the library system.

Flathead County Administrator Mike Pence said the reason the library system’s budget is small is due to conservative budgeting decisions in the past combined with state laws allowing for budget increases at half the rate of cost of living increases. This impacts all county departments and offices, including the sheriff’s department, which is last in the state for deputy-to-resident ratios.

“The fact we are where we are is sort of a historical thing,” Pence said. “We get budget guidelines and typically we ask people to stay within a limit of increase because we only have so much new money to play with every year, so the library along with the other departments and offices, we ask them to live within limits and most of them do.”

About 70 percent of their budget goes toward staff expenses, which is typical for a system their size, according to Crowley. She also said their materials budget is $228,000.

“It’s pretty good if you look at other large libraries around the state. They are $350,000 to $400,000,” Crowley said. “One problem is we have outgrown our buildings, so it’s not like we have room to add a lot more materials.”

The main library in Kalispell is owned by Kalispell School District and Columbia Falls’ library is inside their city hall. The Bigfork Library is owned by the Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork, according to Crowley. It was almost moved into Bigfork High School, according to BHS Principal Matt Porrovecchio, and is more frequently used by Bigfork elementary and middle school students.

The FCL had 40,543 active members last year out of the county’s 90,028 residents. They checked out 565,596 items in 2012. Of that total, 31,581 items were from the Bigfork library, and 18,399 were downloaded through the FCL and not checked out from any specific branch. The main library in Kalispell has about 750 guests per day, and the combined traffic for all three branches is about 1,000 visitors per day.

“I think we have a unique situation in a small town, it’s disproportionate,” Bigfork Elementary School Principal Matt Jensen said. “I think it gets more use per capita than a library in a bigger town.”

One of the ways FCL is able to provide more books than they actually have on their shelves is by sharing resources with Missoula and 13 other libraries across the state. Books aren’t the only resource they shuffle around either.

“If someone is sick or goes on vacation, we move people around like dominoes to cover the desks,” Cowley said. “I’m very proud we’re able to do that.”

The West Shore Community Library and the Whitefish Library are separate from the FCL. According to Marne Molloy, president of the WSCL board of directors, going private meant the difference between being open six days a week as a separate entity or just two days a week with the FCL. WSCL’s yearly operational costs are $45,000, which are funded entirely through donations and fundraisers.

Whitefish Library Director Joey Kositzky said the Whitefish Library separated from FCL on July 1, 2011 in order to have more local control of how their facilities are operated. She also said the Whitefish library is financially stable thanks to donations.

“I think it (small budgets) impacts all libraries because we’re all understaffed and want more training, staffing and technology,” Kositzky said. “But with proper budgeting, most libraries are able to provide that service with the funds we have.”

Earlier this month the Bigfork Community Development Foundation Trust made a $7,500 donation to replace 30-year-old carpeting, chairs and the check-out section of the Bigfork library.

According to FCL Director Kim Crowley, it is “critical” that the FCL obtain outside funding from grants and organizations for capital expenses such as shelving and carpeting.

“It will freshen up the library,” foundation Trustee Bob Keenan said.

The grant from the Bigfork Community Development Foundation Trust will be combined with a $5,000 grant from the Flathead County Library System for a $20,000 project that will be completed in phases, according to Crowley.