Libraries.
1. SIZE. Although we have roughly the number of libraries (15 in
Mpls, 13 in St. Paul), Minneapolis has approximately 537,000 square feet
of libraries while St. Paul has about 240,000 square feet. On a per
capita basis, Minneapolis has about 1.4 square feet per resident; St.
Paul has 0.82. A physically large library system is great for many
reasons - can sustain a larger collection, can integrate more computers,
can allow more educational programming like after school tutoring or
adult literacy training, can support more community-building functions -
but it has serious operating implications.
2. COLLECTIONS. Minneapolis has over 3 million catalogued items.
St. Paul has about 1.13 million. In addition to being larger,
Minneapolis' collection is more diverse. The more diverse a collection
is, typically the more expensive it is to build and maintain.
3. GOVERNANCE. In St. Paul, the City Council is the Library Board
- it is pretty clear who's in charge. In Minneapolis, accountability is
more dispersed/hidden. The Library Board has oversight of the system,
but doesn't control the budget. The Mayor and Council set the budget
(or 90%of it), but don't have oversight of the system. Then throw in
the Board of Estimate & Taxation, just to obscure things further. All
that has made joint long-term planning and priority setting harder in
Minneapolis than in St. Paul.
4. LGA. When the LGA cuts came in 2004, St. Paul shielded their
libraries from those cuts. In Minneapolis, virtually the opposite
happened. Because our libraries are more LGA-dependent than either the
City or the Parks, our libraries took a disproportionate hit from those
cuts - in effect shielding the rest of Minneapolis from the full brunt
of the State attack. That is why the library cuts (30% of staff laid
off, 35% reduction in hours) were so much more severe than in other city
departments/divisions.
Colin Hamilton
Executive Director
The Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library
612/630-6172
<email obscured>