Accurate comparisons between funding levels for libraries and other public sector and education services are often a black box. In a new study from the EveryLibrary Institute, authors A.J. Million and Jenny Bossaller look at FY2019 revenue and expenditure data from the IMLS PLS, the US Census' American Community Survey, and the FBI Uniform Crime Statistics datasets to build an accurate per capita comparison between services.
Library funding and funding for other government services should ideally be tied to community needs. While police and public safety are well-funded, more spending on police does not necessarily decrease crime. Other public sectors, such as education, health, and public welfare, receive significant amounts of public funds compared to libraries. Although libraries frequently fill gaps in social services, funding models by themselves cannot address community needs.
Despite their crucial role in providing essential community services, libraries are proportionally underfunded to serve their role. To position themselves for the future, libraries need to integrate with other social services and commit to collaborative governance for shared services. This integration is called for based on the overlap in services identified in the study and existing funding disparities. However, despite increased revenue over the past decade, libraries have hired relatively few staff who could provide the needed services.
Funding Our Priorities brings together new reporting about expenditure across government sectors along with a detailed discussion of unfunded mandates and voluntary service expansion by public libraries. The report is clear in its call that librarians must engage within and outside government to draw attention to aligning spending portfolios with community needs. The authors conclude that future research should examine the impact public libraries have on communities, potentially leading to new library funding models.
About the Authors
A.J. Million is the Director of the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) at the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan. In 2017, he earned his Ph.D. in Information Science and Learning Technologies from the University of Missouri where his dissertation tested the relationship between forms of bureaucratic organization and innovation in U.S. state department of transportation websites. A.J.’s research examines topics such as public-sector information technology use, scholarly communication, knowledge infrastructures, research data management, and libraries. Before joining ICPSR, A.J. was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Information at the University of Michigan and a Research Librarian for the Missouri Department of Transportation.
Jenny Bossaller is an Associate Professor at the iSchool at the University of Missouri. Her teaching and research focus on the history of libraries and information, public libraries, information policy, and related social and technological phenomena. She has developed programs in the iSchool’s LIS program focusing on public library leadership, health and wellness, and community engagement. She is co-author of Introduction to Public Librarianship, 3rd. ed., and 4th ed. (upcoming) and is recipient of the 2022 ALISE/Connie Van Fleet Award for Research Excellence in Public Library Services to Adults.