Communities in Need

1. Communities in Need Dianne Carty, Bonnie Burnham, Diane Giarrusso, Em Claire Knowles, Denis Lesieur, Vanessa Verkade

2. Tasks • Justify the fiscal indicators used (Piggford formula) • Look at other indicators used • Determine the thresholds that would place a community into program sections A & B • Align reciprocity with the program proposed by the LFRG • Prepare some examples of how the program would work

3. Justify the fiscal indicators The subcommittee feels that the Piggford fiscal indicators are useful because: • There is historical precedence—they were used by the MBLC to determine fiscal hardship for MAR waivers, and • They factor in more than one indicator, thereby allowing a more complete picture of a community’s economic ranking and/or “ability to pay” for library services.

4. Other indicators used • The MBLC State Aid to Public Libraries program and its disbursement of funds is unlike any other state agency or program; therefore it is difficult at best to compare indicators between agencies or programs. The MA state aid program is also unlike other states’ library aid programs, and indeed, is considered a stronger program, making it difficult to compare.

5. Determine the thresholds that would place a community into section A or B of the program • The subcommittee discussed several ideas for determining the thresholds. In studying the Piggford fiscal indicators and the “2005 Municipal Pie” we discovered that there is no real correlation between the fiscal indicators and the amount of money per capita that communities were spending on libraries.

6. Determine the thresholds that would place a community into section A or B of the program • Our goal was then to find an indicator (and a threshold) that was the fairest and that made the most sense, and one that could work with any per capita floor set by the MBLC. As a result, the subcommittee decided upon a new way to determine the threshold funneling communities into sections A or B.

7. Determine the thresholds that would place a community into section A or B of the program • Recommendation: Essentially throwing out the previously proposed Piggford fiscal indicators. The subcommittee now proposes using the community’s per capita spending on libraries coupled with the percentage of the municipal expenditures on libraries as it relates to the statewide average of municipal expenditures on libraries to determine the threshold that places communities into section A or B.

8. Determine the thresholds that would place a community into section A or B of the program Section A: • The community spends less than the per capita floor, currently proposed at $10, and the community spends below the current state average of 1.2% of its total municipal expenditures. • It is a community that can be considered able to pay the per capita floor, and is eligible for Section A or the Communities in Need program.

9. Determine the thresholds that would place a community into section A or B of the program Section B: • The community spends less than the per capita floor, currently proposed at $10, and the community spends above the current state average of 1.2% of its total municipal expenditures. • It is a community that can be considered impoverished and eligible for Section B of the Communities in Need program. (Because library is getting at least as much of the pie as the state average, but still unable to allocate at the minimum per capita floor.)

10. Align reciprocity with the program proposed by the LFRG • Because some members of the larger state aid review committee wished to be able to offer reciprocity to libraries in the communities in need program, the subcommittee discussed this idea.

11. Align reciprocity with the program proposed by the LFRG • Members wondered if there was a way to offer “limited”, not full, reciprocity to libraries since the Communities in Need program is a separate arm of the State Aid program working with communities who were not full program participants. • One idea was to limit residents’ access to ILL: residents could go to other libraries, but could not participate in ILL services. • Another idea was to limit access by requiring residents to pick up holds and ILL’s at their home library, not a neighboring library, as a method of forcing them to confront the state of their own library.

12. Align reciprocity with the program proposed by the LFRG • Shall a community in Section A get any reciprocity? • Because there is not time limit on participation in this section, there seemed to be no incentive to improve and leave the program if the privilege of reciprocity is available to the community. • Recommendation: Therefore, the subcommittee agreed that reciprocity should not be available to Section A participants as determined by the boards of trustees of local public libraries, as in the current state aid program—see below: Libraries in certified municipalities are not required to lend library materials to the library in the noncertified municipality (605 CMR 4.01 (6a)). Libraries in certified municipalities are not required to extend reciprocal library services, beyond in-library use of their materials, to residents of the noncertified municipality (605 CMR 4.01 (6b)).

13. Align reciprocity with the program proposed by the LFRG Section B participants: • Although participants would be getting some state aid award and capacity building assistance, they are still not meeting the per capita floor and/or minimum requirements necessary to be a full participant in the state aid program. • The subcommittee determined that if these participants received both state aid funding and reciprocity, this would constitute a waiver in disguise—something committee members have stated they wish to abolish. • Recommendation: The subcommittee agreed that reciprocity should not be available to Section B participants as determined by the boards of trustees of local public libraries, as in the current state aid program—see below: Libraries in certified municipalities are not required to lend library materials to the library in the noncertified municipality (605 CMR 4.01 (6a)). Libraries in certified municipalities are not required to extend reciprocal library services, beyond in-library use of their materials, to residents of the noncertified municipality (605 CMR 4.01 (6b)).

14. Reciprocity • The proposed state aid program is designed to encourage local funding for public libraries. • The state aid program is designed to protect library budgets and to push communities to fund libraries adequately. • Reciprocity is currently the incentive used to drive communities to adequately fund their local libraries. • There is currently nothing to suggest that the privilege of reciprocity will not continue to push communities to adequately fund their local libraries. • The state aid program cannot help libraries get adequate local financial support if residents are able to fully use the services in a neighboring library, thereby bypassing the needs of their own library. • In short, the Communities in Need subcommittee agrees that if a community is not meeting the per capita floor as determined by the MBLC or the minimum requirements, two factors that determine reciprocity in the LFRG proposal, then this same community should not receive reciprocity while in the Communities in Need program.

15. Steps to enter the Communities in Need Program • Library receives Cherry Sheet with estimate of State Aid to Public Libraries award. • Library applies for State Aid. • If the municipality is able to pay the minimum per capita floor and is expending that amount on their library, the library is eligible to move on to the minimum requirements component of the State Aid program.

16. Communities in Need Program • If municipality falls above the threshold for ability to pay minimum per capita, but is not currently meeting the minimum per capita expenditure, it qualifies for the Communities in Need program, Section A. • If municipality falls below the threshold for ability to pay the minimum per capita, and is currently not meeting the minimum per capita expenditure, it qualifies for the Communities in Need program, Section B.

17. Communities in Need Program • The purpose of the program is to provide libraries with the opportunity to work toward meeting the per capita floor and minimum requirements through capacity building and/or direct cash awards. • Cash awards will be drawn from the Equalization Grant award pot (the Cherry Sheet amounts are calculated annually for each municipality as if their library were meeting the minimum per capita floor).

18. Communities in Need Program—Section A • This program aids libraries in capacity building within their municipality and involves no cash award to participating libraries. • Upon entering Section A, each library will participate in an evaluation to examine the funding issues facing them. A capacity building plan will be created to assist the library to meet expenditure and minimum standards goals (if needed). • The MBLC will contract with and provide orientation and training for consultants who will work directly with libraries to provide the following capacity building training: Long Range Planning, Advocacy, Marketing, Fundraising • The goal of the training is to help libraries to plan, educate and advocate within their communities resulting in increased support and funding for them. • Libraries may remain in Section A until their municipality meets the minimum per capita funding expenditure.

19. Communities in Need Program—Section B • This program aids libraries in meeting the minimum per capita requirement through a combination of capacity building training and a direct funding to participating libraries. • The maximum number of years that a library is eligible to participate in Section B is four (4) Three years with a cash award and one year with training only. • Funds will be allocated each year using a declining scale with the expectation that the municipality’s local funding to the library increase as state funds decrease. • The key to encouraging communities to better fund their libraries in Section B is the understanding that 1) there is a limit to the length of time that the State Aid Communities in Need program funding will be available to them and 2) there is an expectation that the municipality will increase its local funding as the state assisted funding is decreased each year. • Libraries that have participated in the Communities in Need Program will be unable to re-enter the program for a three (3) year period.

20. Communities in Need Program—Section B • Upon entering Section B, each library will participate in an evaluation to examine the funding issues facing them. • A plan will be created to assist the library to meet expenditure and minimum standards goals (if needed) with the aid of a direct cash award. • State Aid Communities in Need funds allocated to Libraries will be monitored in order to ensure that these funds are being used by the Library to meet needs expressed in the plan. • The cash award will be distributed thusly: • Year 1: Library receives 75% of their Equalization State Aid award estimate for that fiscal year according to their Cherry Sheet and begins training in capacity building. • Year 2: Library receives 50% of their Equalization State Aid award estimate for that fiscal year according to their Cherry Sheet and continues training in capacity building. • Year 3: Library receives 25% of their Equalization State Aid award estimate for that fiscal year according to their Cherry Sheet and continues training in capacity building. • Year 4: Library receives no Equalization State Aid award and continues training in capacity building.

21. Issues for further discussion by the larger state aid review committee: • How is this program better for my library patrons? It establishes benchmarks that reflect library activity throughout the state. The concept of equal access works only if each community participates fully. The per capita floor is minimal and the program’s incentives allow libraries to earn more money. The current state average per capita spending on libraries is $30. • What are our lobbying points on Town Meeting Floor/How do we convince our residents to pay? • What is the disbursement formula going to be?