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Krashen on the State Of CA Libraries
A Third of One Percent
for California's Libraries
Stephen Krashen
Published as a Guest Commentary, Santa Monica Daily
"When I read about the way in which library funds are
being cut and cut, I can only think that American
society has found one more way to destroy itself."
(Isaac Asimov, from his autobiography I Asimov)
A government survey of public libraries released last
month ("Public Libraries in the United States: Fiscal
year 2003") shows that California's public libraries
are in bad shape.
According to the survey, we rank 37th among all states
in terms of book holdings with 2.3 books per capita.
Maine, number one, provides more than double this
amount, 5.2 books per capita. California public
libraries are even worse off in audio materials,
ranking 43rd, and we rank 38th in video and magazine
holdings.
California public libraries have 2.5 librarians per
25,000 state residents, putting us in 45th place (New
Hampshire has 8.3 librarians per 25,000 people, more
than triple California's figure.)
These results are not new. Last year's "America's Most
Literate Cities" report from the University of
Wisconsin ranked the library systems of 79 US cities.
Oakland ranked 51st, Long Beach 64th, Fremont 65th,
Fresno 69th, Los Angeles 73rd, Anaheim, 78th, and
Santa Ana 79th. Only San Francisco (34th) and San
Jose(39th) escaped the bottom one-third.
California also neglects its school libraries,
spending a pathetic 3% of the national average.
California school libraries have the fewest books per
child in the US, and by far the fewest credentialed
school librarians (one per 4500 students; the national
average is one per 900 students).
We should be concerned. Studies confirm that the
quality of both school and public libraries are
related to how well children read; it is no surprise
that California has the lowest reading scores in the
nation, and has been last since 1992, the first time
scores for individual states were analyzed.
Children of poverty typically do poorly on reading
tests, and they are the most dependent on libraries,
because they have the least access to books at home.
About 35 to 40% of circulation of public library
materials is child-related.
What is to be done?
There are three major sources of funding for public
libraries. State governments contribute about 10% of
library budgets nationally, about 80% comes from local
(community, district, region) funding, and about 6.5
percent comes from "other" sources (donations,
interest, library fines, fees, grants). The federal
contribution is negligible, about one half of one
percent nation-wide.
Much of California's shortfall comes from the state.
We are only slightly below average when it comes to
local support, about 97% of the national average, but
the state invests less than half (45%) of the
national average in public libraries. Also, California
libraries were only able to come up with 67% of the
national average in terms of "other" contributions to
the library budget.
If California just wanted to be average, to spend as
much per capita on public libraries as other states
do, it would have to spend another 125 million per
year. If the state were to pay its share, it would
have to invest another 66 million, making up about
half the shortfall. We are even farther behind when it
comes to school libraries. Adding 129 million to the
current allotment of 4 million for school libraries
would bring us to the national average.
For a total increase of about 254 million, we would be
spending as much as the average state does on its
public and private libraries. That's only about a
third of a percent of the 90 billion dollar state
budget.
Contrary to popular opinion, nearly all children in
the US master the basics of reading. Some do it faster
than others, but they all manage, eventually, to read
at least at a basic level; there are few total
illiterates who have been to our public schools. To
get beyond the basic level, however, children need
access to books, and for many children, libraries are
their only chance. Instead of making pious
pronouncements about raising levels of literacy and
investing more in measuring the problem (increased
testing), California might consider making the most
obvious investment and spend a third of a percent of
the state budget, or more, on libraries.
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