NEW CENTURY LIBRARIES
Questions and Answers

Q. Given the current fiscal crisis, why are you asking for additional funding through the New Century Libraries proposal?

A. We need libraries now more than ever. Libraries are essential to New York’s economic recovery. If New York is to take a competitive lead in the 21st century, our libraries must become a priority. New Century Libraries will provide the means of delivering needed high-quality library services to all New Yorkers:

• Entrepreneurs and businesses depend on libraries as they plan and expand, find financial resources, and ultimately increase employment and prosperity in their communities.

• Libraries educate the workforce; studies of schools across the U.S. show that strong school libraries are positively correlated with higher levels of student achievement.
 
• New Yorkers depend on access to high-quality, reliable electronic information through NOVEL, New York’s statewide virtual library, available through 4,600 school, public, academic, and hospital libraries.

Q. Why are you putting so much emphasis on NOVEL?

A.The benefits of NOVEL are very far-reaching for New Yorkers:

• NOVEL gives many businesses their only means of access to vital resources, e.g., Business & Company Resource Center and a wide variety of up-to-date global business information, including 300,000 company profiles.

• NOVEL enhances education by ensuring that students at all levels have full computer access to a powerful online library, e.g., thousands of top-quality and age-appropriate journals as well as resources to support K–12 teachers and curricula.

• NOVEL provides great economies of scale:

----- For every dollar the State Library invests in NOVEL, local libraries would need to spend $30 to obtain the same resources.

----- The resources purchased by the State Library would cost localities as much as $72 million to purchase on their own.

----- The cost of online journals and databases is prohibitive to most individuals and small businesses.

• NOVEL depends on New Century Libraries to continue and grow:

----- It currently depends entirely on temporary federal funding through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), which must be appropriated each year.

----- Because LSTA funds are based on population, New York is likely to lose some federal funding.

----- Costs of commercial databases are likely to rise; without ongoing state funding for NOVEL, we may need to eliminate databases.

Q. What would be the impact of the proposed 5-percent cut in library aid and the 15-percent cut in The New York Public Library’s special programs?

A.The proposed cuts will have a broad negative impact:

• The 5-percent cut in aid will trigger an automatic 5-percent cut in federal LSTA funds for New York State.

• Library aid has received no incremental increases since 1998.

• Use of libraries has increased more than 20 percent since 2001; cuts will put even more pressure on overstrained local libraries when people need them most.

• Some school library systems may close their doors, while others will be forced to cut back on services.

• Services to isolated rural hospital libraries may be curtailed.

• Libraries may be forced to stop sharing resources because of cuts in delivery services provided by library systems.