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Technology advances at Lee County libraries put on hold
By Joe Benedict/MVM News Network
Advancement in technology at libraries in Lee County may have to wait a bit longer after the Lee County Board of Supervisors decided against increasing the amount it will give to the libraries in the next fiscal year.
Emily Rohlfs, library director at the Keokuk Public Library, said the Lee County library directors were disappointed to learn about the funding after what she said was an optimistic meeting on Jan. 16 with the board of supervisors.
One of the programs Rohlfs was most enthusiastic about is a program called Learning Express Library. She said Lee County residents would be able to access hundreds of tests to help them get into college and find a job. Residents wouldn't even have to travel to the library to use the service. It would be assessable through library Web sites.
Among the practice tests available on Learning Express are the ACT, SAT, ASVAB, Civil Service, cosmetology, EMS, firefighter, GED, GMAT, law enforcement, nursing, praxis, real estate and more.
The libraries also were looking at a books by mail program that would operate similar to the video by mail programs operated by the company Netflix. Rohlfs said it would benefit rural and home-bound residents. The libraries were looking at a teen reading program and more summer activities for children and teens.
An $8,000 upgrade for genealogy researchers also would be part of the increase in funding for services from Ancestry and HeritageQuest. That system includes census records, birth/marriage/death records, county histories, bank records and more.
Fort Madison Public Library Director Sarah Clendineng said the library won't be able to do any of these programs unless other funding is found. She said that is a very time consuming process.
“We'll just keep doing what we've been doing and try again next year,” Clendineng said.
With inflation, no increase over eight years amounts to a decrease in funding, she said.
The libraries have split $52,500 between them from county funds every year for the past eight years. The group asked for $16,000 more for the 2008-09 fiscal year budget for new programs.
One supervisor, Bob Woodruff, suggested a gradual increase in county money at the Jan. 16 meeting. The library directors said any increase would be better than no increase.
Supervisor Chair George Morgan said the board of supervisors did take a look at the funding request during its discussion of the budget.
“There's a lot of causes out there we could support, this being one of them, along with county fair,” Morgan said. “But we're being extremely fiscally conservative and decided to hold the line.”
Morgan said there was some discussion about increasing the money to the library in steps over the next three years as Woodruff talked about at the January meeting, but by the end of discussions, it was decided to not spend any more money.
“We're going to see if the budget grows and look at it next year,” Morgan said.
The county library directors say Lee County should foot more of the bill to run the libraries. According to their statistics, about 25 percent of library patrons come from outside the corporate limits of Fort Madison, Keokuk, West Point and Donnellson, but Lee County contributes only 6 percent of the money for the library budgets.
Emily Rohlfs, library director at the Keokuk Public Library, said the Lee County library directors were disappointed to learn about the funding after what she said was an optimistic meeting on Jan. 16 with the board of supervisors.
One of the programs Rohlfs was most enthusiastic about is a program called Learning Express Library. She said Lee County residents would be able to access hundreds of tests to help them get into college and find a job. Residents wouldn't even have to travel to the library to use the service. It would be assessable through library Web sites.
Among the practice tests available on Learning Express are the ACT, SAT, ASVAB, Civil Service, cosmetology, EMS, firefighter, GED, GMAT, law enforcement, nursing, praxis, real estate and more.
The libraries also were looking at a books by mail program that would operate similar to the video by mail programs operated by the company Netflix. Rohlfs said it would benefit rural and home-bound residents. The libraries were looking at a teen reading program and more summer activities for children and teens.
An $8,000 upgrade for genealogy researchers also would be part of the increase in funding for services from Ancestry and HeritageQuest. That system includes census records, birth/marriage/death records, county histories, bank records and more.
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“We'll just keep doing what we've been doing and try again next year,” Clendineng said.
With inflation, no increase over eight years amounts to a decrease in funding, she said.
The libraries have split $52,500 between them from county funds every year for the past eight years. The group asked for $16,000 more for the 2008-09 fiscal year budget for new programs.
One supervisor, Bob Woodruff, suggested a gradual increase in county money at the Jan. 16 meeting. The library directors said any increase would be better than no increase.
Supervisor Chair George Morgan said the board of supervisors did take a look at the funding request during its discussion of the budget.
“There's a lot of causes out there we could support, this being one of them, along with county fair,” Morgan said. “But we're being extremely fiscally conservative and decided to hold the line.”
Morgan said there was some discussion about increasing the money to the library in steps over the next three years as Woodruff talked about at the January meeting, but by the end of discussions, it was decided to not spend any more money.
“We're going to see if the budget grows and look at it next year,” Morgan said.
The county library directors say Lee County should foot more of the bill to run the libraries. According to their statistics, about 25 percent of library patrons come from outside the corporate limits of Fort Madison, Keokuk, West Point and Donnellson, but Lee County contributes only 6 percent of the money for the library budgets.
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