More business ... same staff

RED OAK — In 2010, Red Oak’s library reported a circulation of 47,000 the lowest total of five similar-sized communities in Southwest Iowa.

Atlantic topped the list with a circulation of 92,000, followed by Shenandoah (88,000), Clarinda (78,000) and Glenwood (54,000).

But 2010 was no typical year for Red Oak. The library was undergoing a major renovation and expansion.

“We had the entire upstairs closed for the entire year,” Red Oak Librarian Kathi Wagner recalls. “With all of the construction and equipment, it was crazy around here.”

Now with the construction and expansion complete, Red Oak is on pace for the same 92,000-circulation Atlantic had in 2010 for fiscal year 2011-12, which ends June 30.  

“People are using the library more and more, and that’s a good thing,” Wagner said.

While the circulation numbers have changed dramatically, taking Red Oak from the bottom of the list to the top, what hasn’t changed over the years is the number of employees.

In 2010, Red Oak had the fewest number of full-time employees of the five libraries at 3.79. Glenwood had the most at 6.1, while Clarinda had the second fewest at 4.43.

Red Oak also had the fewest number of part-time employees at .03, while the others ranged from 1.1-2.38.

And of the $2,500 Red Oak is allotted for part-time salaries, $2,000 of it, or 80 percent, is spent on a janitor.

Red Oak’s budget numbers paint an even bleaker picture. At $198,000 for fiscal year 2011-2012, Red Oak receives less than half of what Shenandoah has at $509,996.

Clarinda, Atlantic and Glenwood’s budgets all range from as much as $29,000 more than Red Oak (Clarinda) to $96,000 more (Glenwood).

And with the increased traffic and the same number of people to help them, Wagner said service has suffered.

“Truly, people do wait. They wait to be waited on. That’s not uncommon,” she said. “Can we give them as much time as we would like, that we used to be able to do, no we can’t. It’s not as good as far as I’m concerned.”

With the staffing limitations, Wagner said they also can’t schedule as many programs as they would like.

Wagner said at one time, the library was staffed with five full-time employees and had a part-time budget of $12,000.

So this year, in an attempt to remedy their staff shortages, the library board requested an increase of part-time salaries to $34,000.

City Administrator Brad Wright removed the increase to help balance the budget, along with a request from the police chief to hire an additional officer and reducing the YMCA’s funding request from $70,000 to $10,000.

At last week’s special council meeting to discuss the budget, the council funded the requested police officer while increasing the YMCA line-item to $25,000 after lengthy discussion on both topics.

However, they never even mentioned the library’s request.

Wagner attended the meeting, and just before they adjourned, addressed the council in order to explain why she requested the increase.

She stated the 90,000-circulation figure actually represents a much larger number in terms of service.

“If somebody comes in, they want help finding the book, they want you to check out the book,” she told the council. “They are going to bring back the book and you are going to put the book back, so you can see how 90,000 in a year suddenly becomes a lot of activity.”

She also talked about the importance of the library in giving Red Oak’s youth something to do.

“We are seeing Red Oak’s children,” she said. “We know when its Wednesday and school is out early. We see them after school, we see them nights, we see them Saturdays, we see them all through breaks, we see them all summer long. They love the library and that’s exactly what we want them to do.”

With no increase looming for part-time help, Wagner said she will continue to rely heavily on volunteers, three of which donate about 20 hours a week to the library.

“I don’t know what I would do without them,” she said.

However, next year she plans on again requesting the funding increase with the hopes eventually, it will be approved.

“It’s a goal and it’s a struggle,” she said. “I don’t expect us to be at a $500,000 budget like Shenandoah with five or six full-time employees other libraries our size have. I just don’t want us at the bottom when we are at the top in terms of service.”