tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14253854.post7960123711060685120..comments2023-09-01T10:29:13.028-05:00Comments on Thoughts from a Library Administrator: Cutting Hours or Cutting MaterialsMichael A. Golrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17647832832366248030noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14253854.post-47593184804715263002008-08-18T11:40:00.000-05:002008-08-18T11:40:00.000-05:00We had a former director whose philosophy was alwa...We had a former director whose philosophy was always to threaten to cut hours whenever faced with funding issues. Her thinking was to make the public "hurt" therefore voting to increase taxes paid to the library. This was something that always worked for us because those that supported the libraries wanted them available (even when they didn't use them). One thing that also helps us is that the library fund is a separate tax than the rest of our county taxes which reduces the general bureacracy's ability to hit our funds.katreenkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02791229245312747422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14253854.post-15800088113227584972008-08-07T20:56:00.000-05:002008-08-07T20:56:00.000-05:00I'm not a public librarian so my comments may be c...I'm not a public librarian so my comments may be completely out of line and you should feel free to ignore them. (I'm a medical librarian with 25 years of experience, 18 as director of two different academic medical libraries). I would favor hours over collections. In this day and age, when ILL and consortial arrangements enable us (if we make good use of those tools) to get hold of ANY item pretty quickly, I think that making ourselves available as many hours as possible is key. What's worse? -- somebody showing up to the library and finding that it's closed at the only time that's convenient for them so that they never bother to come back, or coming in to find that the item that they want isn't there, but that there's a bright, caring, sharp, human being who says, Sorry we don't have that, but I know how to get it for you quick!<BR/><BR/>Smart caring people can always figure out solutions and it requires people, available people, to establish the personal bonds with your community that will rally them behind you.<BR/><BR/>I speak from some experience. We're having a tough time in my state right now and my overall budget has been cut 12%. I'm freezing some positions to save money, but I'm also cutting collections by 25% in order to maintain personnel. I'm gambling that the relationships we build, and our creativity in making sure that we get people to what they need will outweigh the inconvenience of not having as much stuff immediately available at their fingertips.T Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12946697701435980467noreply@blogger.com