Letter to our Editor -- For immediate release

Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 10:37 AM
To: News-FNP-Keren-Phil (pkeren@recordpub.net)
Cc: 'Audrey'; 'Betsy'; 'Bob Ferguson'; 'David Riede'; 'Director-Kevin Rosswurm'; 'Jon Strubbe'; 'Mary Lou'; 'Sandra'; 'Sue'
Subject: Letter to our Editor -- For immediate release

What are the costs/benefits of merging with other library systems?   
 
The board of public library trustees of a county library district, appointed under section 3375.22 of the Revised Code, may consolidate with another subdivision in the county maintaining a free public library. Such consolidation may be accomplished by one of the following procedures: 

 

 (A) The board of public library trustees of the county library district may submit a resolution to the board of library trustees of such subdivision requesting such consolidation. ...
 
 (B) Upon receipt of such resolution, under division (A) of this section the board of library trustees of the subdivision may request the taxing authority of the subdivision to adopt a resolution ...
 
 (C) The board of county commissioners and the taxing authority of the subdivision, upon receipt of petitions signed by not less than ten per cent, or five hundred, whichever is the lesser, of the qualified electors in the county library district and not less than ten per cent, or five hundred, whichever is the lesser, of the qualified electors of the subdivision, voting at the last general election, shall adopt resolutions providing for the submission of the question of consolidation to the electors of the county library district and of the subdivision. ... 
   
 The board of library trustees of the county library district, the board of library trustees of the subdivision and their respective taxing authorities shall take appropriate action during the succeeding December, transferring all title and interest in all property, both real and personal, held in the names of said library boards to the board of trustees of the consolidated county library district, effective the second Monday of the succeeding January. ...
 
What are the cost / benefits of merging with Stow-Munroe Fall library system or Summit County library system?

 

Lou Schott  Cuyahoga Falls  330-923-9328  lschott@neo.rr.com 

WHAT ARE OUR LIBRARY's PROBLEMS?

1. Will our library post all important cost data on their website?
2. Who will provide the latest tools, techniques, and training for our community?
3. How do future levies help or hurt our low-income people?
4 How can our community leaders use the Creative Problem Solving process?
5. How can ‘group websites’ support the public interest?
6. How do costs compare for our library before & after a merger with Summit County?
7. What commitment do our library leaders have to give voters informed choices?
8. How is our mission similar & different from other key public info organizations?
9. Who represents the interests of our low-income people on our library board?
10. Is our library deciding based on old or non-existing data.
11. What do low-income people need and how can they help our community?
12. Will our library director post his invitation for the public to meet with him?

Where do we go from here in our attempts to help our library whom we need to help our school?

To:  Our Community Leaders,

 

During the past month we discussed merging our library with other public information organizations like our school or other library systems.  Some people question the motives for encouraging this discussion.  Others see the discussion as useful and necessary.  A few people are very upset.  Our library director says that I am obsessed.

 

Here are some current events that will lead to discussions of the cost / benefits of all of our public information organizations.  

1.  We have new tools available to us (free of cost via the internet) to lower operating costs & improve services.

2.  Our school leaders are moving in a useful direction with the 'Plan for Excellence'. 

3.  Our library leaders (except for one leader) seem indifferent to the events at our school.

4.  Our city council leaders express interest in our school and we see them at BOE meetings.  

5.  Our Falls News Press attends BOE meetings and reports on past events.

6.  Our FNP editor sees more people attend his 'Coffee with our Editor'.

7.  Several BOE members and another key player attend 'Coffee with our Editor'.

Thus, slowly we see more cross pollination of our school, city council, FNP and one library leader. 

 

But, we need to do more and we need do it faster -- if we want our community to compete with the global competition.

 

 Our library director has stated that merging our library with our school is prevented by the Ohio Revised Code.  I have not challenged or checked his statement.  I have scanned the ORC and concluded that the ORC is part of our list of problem statements.  The ORC does not help our libraries compete in new and different ways.  For example, our schools are required to do 5 year financial forecasts.  Our libraries are not required to forecast.  Our schools are required to compete for customers.  Our libraries are not required to compete.

 

We need our libraries to compete -- so they can cooperate with the other public information organizations in our community.  We need to help all of our public information organizations lower costs and improve services.  Accordingly, a Google group distribution list has been set up to 'Help our Libraries'.  This group has the email addresses of all our Ohio libraries, all of our Ohio newspapers, all of our Ohio State representatives and senators.  And, the email addresses of this 'Help our School' group have been added.  If you think that 'helping our libraries' is not connected to 'help our schools' then you can easily opt out.

Currently, this group consists of 630 email addresses.

 

Here are the links we can use for this problem solving process.

http://groups.google.com/group/Help-Our-Libraries

http://help-our-cfo-library.blogspot.com/ 

If you think the problem statements for our CFO library are over or understated, please post a comment on the blog.

 

Lou Schott   www.tnl3000.org

 

SEE_ PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS

Our library leaders must manage time, costs, & quality of service.
Our library, as does every organization, needs to know:
1. The problems that may keep it from reaching it's mission.
2. All of the possible solutions statements for solving it's problems.