Henderson Libraries Foundation seeks to raise $1 million to address budget woes

By Paul Takahashi

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 | 1:55 a.m.

The Henderson Libraries Foundation is launching its first major fundraiser to address budget woes brought on by the recession.

The nonprofit organization hopes to raise $1 million between April 2011 and April 2012 for the Henderson Libraries’ materials budget, which funds purchases of new books and resources for the six library locations in Henderson.

In addition to soliciting corporate donations and grant funding, the “$1 for a Million” campaign is encouraging patrons to donate at least $1 each time they visit the library. Next month’s kickoff coincides with National Library Week, April 10 to 16.

“If all 110,000 people who visit the library seven to 10 times a year on average were to give us a dollar every time they came in, we can make $1 million easily,” Henderson Libraries executive director Tom Fay said. “That $1 will do more than they can possibly know. It adds up.”

Since the start of the recession in 2007, Henderson Libraries’ budget has been cut by more than 33 percent, Fay said. During that same time however, circulation of materials checked out has increased by more than 40 percent.

“In a down economy, library use naturally goes up,” Fay said. “Unfortunately, in a down economy, libraries’ funding significantly decreases since it is so dependent upon sales and property taxes.”

The Henderson Libraries are funded primarily by property and consolidated tax dollars distributed through the state and Clark County. No city dollars are allocated to the library. About 5 to 7 percent of the overall budget comes from outside funds, including grants, corporate donations and Foundation and Friends support.

Because of how property taxes are assessed, Henderson Libraries saw its highest overall budget swell to $9 million in fiscal year 2008, a year after the recession began. In fiscal year 2010, which ends in June, the overall budget was $7.1 million, a decline of about 22 percent.

The conundrum of doing more with less has had an effect on library patrons, doubling the wait time for popular books and cutting down access to much-needed resources, Fay said.

“It’s becoming more difficult to provide services and programs for children and adults,” he said. “What has become most apparent for our patrons is the reduction of hours.”

In the past two years, the libraries have slashed their hours – 11 hours per week in larger buildings. Other changes include a hiring freeze, a voluntary severance plan and a 10-percent reduction in staff work hours and salaries.

The foundation is hoping eventually to raise $10 million for a library endowment “so hopefully we don’t have this problem in the future,” Fay said.

Without the fundraiser, Henderson Libraries might need to cut more programs such as computer training, he added.

“We’ve seen a 70 percent increase in computer usage, but we have very finite hours and few computers,” he said. “People are trying to retool their skills, but we’ll have to offer less. It denies people access to computers during a time when there are so many people applying to jobs.”

The fundraiser will also help Henderson Libraries continue to plan for the future, Fay said.

In the past year, the number of e-books available for tablets and readers such as the Nook and iPad has increased. In February, Henderson Libraries launched Freegal, a service that allows Henderson residents to download and keep three free songs per week from a Sony catalog of 500,000 songs.

During the economic downturn, libraries will play a greater role in mitigating other budget cuts, especially in education, Fay said.

“We’re the only educational institution that is there for you from womb to death,” he said. “We may be the only hope for some people who can’t afford to go to college.”

For more information about the fundraiser and instructions on how to donate in person, online or by text, visit www.mypubliclibrary.com or call 702-492-6580.