Cherrydale Branch Library

Serving North Arlington since 1922

Report of the Arlington County Fiscal Affairs Advisory Commission on the County Library System, March 2, 1998.

BUDGET AREA: Libraries--Tab I

FAAC REVIEWERS:  Warren L. Nelson      DAYTIME PHONE: 703-243-7867
                 Sandy Bushue                         202-862-5989
DATE OF FAAC ACTION: 2 Mar 98

The proposals below are radical, calling for closure of three of the six branch libraries and the addition of Goldenrod funds for education-oriented programs. The proposals were treated as a package by the FAAC and the package approved on a 7-2-1 vote.

Introductory discussion
The overarching issue raised in the Green Rods and Goldenrods is this: What is the role of the modern library system?

Is it to provide neighborhood-based convenience?
Is it to be a primary repository and purveyor of information?
Is it to be an element in the mosaic of education?

When Benjamin Franklin created the first free public library in Philadelphia, the library had something approaching a monopoly position as the repository and purveyor of information. Librarians develped a self-image as fonts of knowledge; "You bring us a question and we will provide the answer."

Over the years, library systems evolved in cities and counties mainly as small, neighborhood-based institutions. In Arlington, some were located in people's homes. They were small places with limited materials. In an era of large families in crowded homes and little personal transportation, a nearby, quiet, cosy reading vestibule was needed.

With the approach of the 21st Century, the nature of the library is changing. A library is but one of innumerable repositories and purveyors of information. And the demands on libraries have grown to the point where the small neighborhood institutions, while still providing a cozy respite, also drain substantial funds from the central unit of the system, with its new technological demands. Most significantly, the library is now emerging as far more than a repository and purveyor of information; it is becoming part of the education industry.

Nationally, libraries are taking on wholly new functions as a result of the surge in electronic information. The lowest level challenge is to provide hardware for access to electronic information. The next higher level challenge is to provide training and assistance so the public can tap these resources. The highest level challenge is to provide serious education in the use of information resources--the application of judgment to the immense volume of material becoming available. Youth needs to know:

• First, that information is essential to good decision-making--it's not just what Tommie thinks that matters;
• Second, how to access the information that is available--and the volume available today dwarfs what those of us over 30 faced in our college days; and
• Third, how to apply reason and judgment to the volume of information, proto-information and non-information that is about to overwhelm society.

The libraries cannot do all of this, but in the coming decades they will be called upon to do far more of this than in the past.

This budget proposal is designed to move the Arlington library system so it is both strategically and fiscally in a better position to address these challenges on the cusp of the 21st Century by providing funding for:

--fewer neighborhood branches;
--a stronger Central Library; and
--the foundation for a formal teaching role in linking people with "cyberinfo."

The proposals outlined below would substantially reduce the branch system by closing three of the current six branches (reducing the budget by $682,894 in net tax support) and accelerate the shift to an education- oriented library system by adipting both proposed Goldenrods (adding $133,819 to expenditures) for a net tax support savings of $549,075 or 7 percent of the proposed library budget. Closure of any one branch would more than cover the FY99 costs of the Goldenrods. But the issue here is more than just single year costs; it is a process of beginning to shift resources and emphasis from branches, which are cosy but costly, into 21st Centure education programs.

The branch system
The chart below provides statistics on two common measures of usage of library facilities: The numbers of walk-ins or visits to each branch and the Central Library and the numbers of books and other materials checked-out of each, thus showing the relative popularity/utility of each facility.

As the figures indicate, Glencarlyn has by far the fewest checkouts and Cherrydale and Glencarlyn by far the fewest visits. No branch, however, even approaches the Central Library in usage. For example, the largest branch, Westover, has only 10 percent the checkouts recorded at the Central Library.

Numbers are not everything. All branches enjoy a loyal and enthusiastic neighborhood clientele. This is not to be dismissed. All branches operate in a sense as community centers for their neighborhoods. But if that serves as the chief rationale for keeping branches, then it is most unfair to other neighborhoods that the county provides a mere six branch libraries; we ought then to be building more--many more--branches. The branch-library-as-community-center rationale also provides a logic for neighborhoods like Lyon Park and Lyon Village--that have their own community centers--to demand county support for the upkeep of those centers.

Branch locations
The map on the next page [not shown on this website] gives the locations of each facility in the Arlington system.

Time and distance penalties faced by patrons of closed branches

Route	Driving distance (miles)	Driving time (minutes:seconds)
Cherrydale to Central	1.2	3:30
Cherrydale to Westover	2.7	7:30
Glencarlyn to Central	2.5	7:15
Glencarlyn to Columbia Pike	2.8	8:00
Aurora Hills to Central	4.0	9:15
Aurora Hills to Columbia Pike	2.8	6:45
Aurora Hills to Shirlington	3.3	7:45

This table gives times and distances from each branch building. Many residents of a branch's catchment area actually live between that branch and the neighboring branch of Central Library. Thus, they would face a shorter drive than shown here. For example, virtually everyone in the Glencarlyn catchment area lives to the east of that branch; many would only have to drive half the time and distance shown. This table, therefore, shows the maximum time and distance.

Table Note

Times and distances calculated parking lot to parking lot between 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., Friday, February 27, 1998 and include slow time while traveling behind a senior citizen doing 22 mph in a car with a Favola bumper sticker.

NOTE: The proposals below, taken together, result in the closure of three of the six branches. This package keeps open three branches--one in north Arlington (Westover), the one farthest from Central Library (Shirlington), and the biggest branch (Columbia Pike), which has excess room in which to pick up some of the business now going to Glencarlyn and Aurora Hills.

GREEN ROD 1: Eliminate Sunday service at Aurora Hills Branch -4,528
DISCUSSION: Of the six branches, Sunday service has never been provided at three and was discontinued in FY93 at Westover. This Green Rod, as drafted, would end Sunday service (1-5 p.m. during the school year only) at Aurora Hills, leaving Colunbia Pike as the sole branch with Sunday service. The Central Library, of course, would continue to be open Sundays from 1-9 p.m.
RECOMMENDATION: Close Aurora Hills branch completely for an expenditure savings of $282,353 and NTS savings of $266,853. Closure would impose the longest drive time of the three closures proposed here--but still less than 10 minutes to the Central Library and less than eight to nearby branches. The Aurora Hills branch is part of a larget country building and the library space would become available for other county purposes. (Note: An alternative is closure of the Shirlington branch. It was kept open in this package because it is the farthest from the Central Library. However, an argument can be made for Shirlington's closure rather than Aurora Hills since Shirlington is slated for replacment in the CIP while Aurora Hills was only recently modernized.)

GREEN ROD 2: Close Cherrydale Branch-233,571
DISCUSSION: Cherrydale is a small branch with substantial neighborhood support. It lies just one mile from the Central Library. The drive time from the Cherrydale Branch to the Central Library--even when halted at both intervening stoplights--is just 3-1/2 minutes. This is a very small convenience that comes at a very high price of a quarter-million dollars a year. As with the other branches, the savings would come primarily from elimination of the staff that is needed to man the facility regardless of the level of usage as well as from the elimination of the need to buy duplicate periodicals and reference works for this branch.
RECOMMENDATION: Adopt. The site would become available for other county purposes.

GREEN ROD 3: Close Glencarlyn Branch      -182,470

DISCUSSION: This is the least used library in the system, as measured by circulation. Only 4 percent of all the books checked out of the library system are checked out at Glencarlyn.
RECOMMENDATION: Adopt. This building was willed to the county solely for use as a library. If it is closed, it would revert to the estate and not be available for other county purposes.

GOLDENROD #1: Fund bilingual library aides at outreach centers +26,319
DISCUSSION: Under a block grant that is expiring, the county has employed four half-time aides at the four bilingual outreach centers. Each works from 3-7 p.m. reading stories to children, helping them with homework and checking books and language tapes out/in for students taking English as a second language at the centers. In one sense, these library aides are acting as providers of after-school care in a safe environment. They are also part of the effort to encourage reading. If they are eliminated, the library expects it would withdraw its materials (which include expensive pronunciation tapes) from the outreach centers and house them in the library. Note the average pay is less than $6,600 each.
RECOMMENDATION: Adopt.

Package of proposals

The FAAC consensus was to treat the proposals above as a package since they formed a philosophical whole in terms of shifting emphasis from lower priority programs (branches) to higher priority programs (education). Whe the FAAC reviews budgets department-by-department, consideration was also given to the constrained budget environment and the paucity of fair cuts available in some other agencies, such as DHS and OTIS.
FAAC VOTE ON PACKAGE ABOVE: 7-2-1

Additional motion #1: Extend hours at Central Library
MOTION: Use some of the funds freed up by the branch closures to extend the hours at the Central Library.
DISCUSSION: No specific hours were cited. It was felt the library should first review its hours and make a propsoal of its own. No dollar figure was attributed to this proposal for the same reason. FAAC VOTE: 9-1-0

Additional motion #2: Bundle schools/county library acquisition
MOTION: The schools and the county library system should accelerate the effort to jointly acquire library materials. FAAC VOTE: 10-0-0

Overall department budget
RECOMMENDATION: Approve the Libraries budget as amended above.
FAAC VOTE: 8-1-1
DISSENTING VIEWS: James Turpin & Doug McClennan: "The base budget as amended is unacceptable. It makes significant cuts to the level of services which will be available to the county's residents. Furthermore, libraries are indicative of a commitment to learning and the quality of life. The level of cuts adopted by the Commission are not warranted by current economic conditions and go even further than those proposed as a five-percent option. (It should be noted that the submitters also opposed the five-percent options.) It clearly sends the wrong message when one of the most educated communities in the country seems compelled to close the means by which citizens, particularly poorer ones, acquire additional knowledge. The most impacted would be the young and those in need of the services. The option of extending hours would not nearly address the loss of service and place additional burdens on what would be a reduced staff. In conclusion, the messsage which is sent by such a drastic reduction is that Arlington is no longer committed to the promotion of learning or improving the quality of life of its citizens. That is not an acceptable option and this approach is indeed short sighted."

Summary of all actions on NTS and FTEs

Action	NTS impact		FTE impact
		Assigned	Change	Kept
Close Cherrydale	-$233,571	4.6	-3.5	1.1
Close Glencarlyn	-182,470	4.3	-3.0	1.3
Close Aurora Hills	-266,853	5.8	-4.5	1.3
Fund bilingual library aides	26,319		+2.0*
Establish CyberLearning Center	107,500		+2.0
Net impact	-549,075		-7.0

*These four half-time positions are already filled and funded under a grant that is expiring. This shows as a plus-up in FTEs because they are currently not county-funded. But, in reality, failure to adopt the Goldenrod would result in a loss of these positions.

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