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ANNUAL REPORT

1998

DRAFTING A BLUEPRINT FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM LIBRARY

From the Chair

A good plan

There's one behind every successful family outing and every probe to the far reaches of the solar system. Some great advances have occurred by chance, but far more have been the result of hard work, thoughtful observation, open communication and good, old-fashioned planning.

In 1998, the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library began to chart its course to the 21st century. It began to examine everything it does, to apply new methods and adopt new attitudes, to set its sights on new goals.

The release and distribution of a strategic planning document is only a part of the process, not its culmination. The trustees, staff, public officials, patrons and other stakeholders who call B&ECPL their library realize that there is much more work to do before any of the proposed plan can become reality.

Change can be alarming. That is why we listen to our constituents when they voice their concerns. Change can be confusing. That is why we assemble and analyze data and public comment. Change can be unsettling. That is why we intend to assess and evaluate every element of the plan before we take the steps necessary to redefine this Library for the New Millennium.

The process is and will remain a public one. Each of us plays an essential role in building our collective future.

Rebecca L. Mahoney, Chair

From the Director

Since 1836, public libraries in Western New York have opened their doors to the community and welcomed anyone with a desire to read, discover and be inspired. In 162 years that hasn't changed... until today.

No, we aren't closing our doors. Quite the reverse.

On December 21, 1998, we opened a new door - an electronic one - and you can step through it from anywhere on earth. I refer, of course, to the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library's home page on the World Wide Web.

Visit us virtually at www.buffalolib.org.

Take your time. Browse around. You'll discover new pathways to an ever-expanding universe of knowledge, new answers to age-old questions, new impressions of an institution that has served the community faithfully for more than 160 years.

We hope you'll visit often and let us know what you think of B&ECPL on the Net. Our web site will continue to grow and evolve over time, and we'd like our visitors to be involved in that process, so don't hesitate to send us feedback and suggestions.

When you can't visit us in person, check us out online. We'll keep the door open for you. 

Diane J. Chrisman, Interim Director

New model libraries, a tiered services hierarchy and unified personnel services are among the recommendations contained in a strategic service plan developed by the experts of Aaron Cohen Associates, Ltd. (ACA) for the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library.

On November 4, ACA's principal investigator Dr. Glen Holt delivered a three-volume, 600-page report to the B&ECPL Board of Trustees in a joint meeting with the Erie County Legislature. That report, The Buffalo and Erie County Public Library in the Third Millennium, is the result of a 15-month process in which Holt and other authorities on the ACA team analyzed the library system to a level of detail never attempted before.

The study identifies tremendous potential, but warns of obstacles. B&ECPL is compromised by an overextended and inadequate physical plant, archaic and unwieldy governance, and a tendency toward 'plain vanilla' library service when the community has indicated that it wants much more.

Meetings with elected officials, community leaders, and the general public will be conducted throughout Erie County to solicit feedback before the Board adopts its final plan. In December, as a first step toward implementing fundamental recommendations of the report, the Library Board adopted a new Mission Statement, Principles that support that Mission, and the American Library Association's 'Library Bill of Rights.'

On Tuesday, February 24, the Gates Library Foundation announced that the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library had been selected to receive a grant of $425,000 as part of GLF's Urban Library Leadership program to bring computers and Internet access to the public. The Gates Foundation grant will enable B&ECPL to introduce desperately needed technology to areas of greatest economic need, where the public library represents the sole access to electronic information for many residents. In its category, B&ECPL received the second highest award in the nation, surpassed only by the New York Public Library.

B&ECPL's GLF grant project targets 13 libraries (the Central Library in downtown Buffalo, 11 Buffalo branches and the Lackawanna Public Library) that serve neighborhoods where most homes have no computers, where local schools are hard pressed to provide current technology, and where other options for information access are severely limited.

On August 6th, the John R. Oishei Foundation awarded a grant of $718,000 to the Library Foundation of Buffalo & Erie County, Inc. to increase local and worldwide access to B&ECPL's significant collection of rare books. This grant, including $563,000 in new funds and $155,000 in funds released from a previously restricted endowment contribution, represents the largest private grant ever awarded for the benefit of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library.

The multi-faceted award has the potential of improving access to many special collections but emphasizes two showpieces of B&ECPL's prestigious holdings: the handwritten manuscript of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the "Milestones of Science" collection of rare and first editions of some of the major works of science and discovery.

The third of four annual $250,000 installments from County Executive Dennis Gorski provided a needed boost to the book budget in 1998 and increased B&ECPL's ability to acquire more library materials in an increasing variety of formats. While books continue to be the most popular commodity in American libraries, electronic information resources and multi-media materials require a growing percentage of the budget. This $250,000 supplement enabled B&ECPL to obtain more of these increasingly popular items for library users.

On August 7th, New York State Librarian Janet Martin Welch announced that 121 public library and branch library locations around the state have been awarded Parent and Child Library Services Grants from the New York State Library's Division of Library Development. Under these grants, the Amherst Main Library at Audubon and the Eggertsville and Williamsville Branches developed Discovery Kits to help non-library users and English-as-a-second-language families become their children's "first teacher." At the Angola Public Library and in Buffalo at the Niagara, Cazenovia and North Park Branches, a project entitled "All Together Now - Toddler Time" teamed libraries with Erie County Early Intervention to bring underserved children and families a series of programs of sharing books, music and educational toys.

On September 10, trustees of the Las Vegas-Clark County (NV) Library District announced the appointment of B&ECPL Director Daniel L. Walters as their new Executive Director. Walters, 52, came to B&ECPL in 1995 with a mandate from the Board of Trustees to undertake strategic service planning and system-wide implementation of current technology. Even as Walters departed, consultants were putting the finishing touches on a five-year strategic plan, and staff were working on the final phases of a multi-year automation project to install hundreds of new computers on the Library's electronic network and establish B&ECPL's presence on the World Wide Web.

On July, the Board of Trustees adopted a policy governing public access to Internet and personal computing resources. As this new service is financed through County OPAC capitalization and will be sustained by ongoing B&ECPL operating funds, the policy and procedures will be uniform among all B&ECPL libraries. Consistent with B&ECPL Circulation Policy, parental permission is required for anyone under the age of 16 who desires Internet access privileges. Commercial filters that allegedly obstruct access to questionable sites, provide a false sense of security and can restrict access to legitimate and useful sites will not be used. Wherever possible, workstations will be designated specifically for children's use and will be configured to begin at the children's services page of B&ECPL's web site.

On Monday, December 21st, the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library established its presence on the Internet with a new home page at www.buffalolib.org. Everyone who visits will be greeted by an image of B&ECPL's familiar blue-and-white borrower's card and various options to search the site. These options include access to the library catalog of approximately 5 million books and other items housed in more than 50 community libraries and the Central Library. Each of those libraries has its own page with a photo and details about programs, hours of service - even a map and directions to the library. Bookmobile schedules, library policies, newsletters, even the summary volume of the proposed strategic plan can be found with the click of a button. Pages designed specifically for children and teens offer links to a variety of sites for homework help, general interest and entertainment. Further exploration leads to computer training tutorials, online Internet safety tips for parents and children, and even a virtual Reference Desk, where visitors can discover valuable information on everything from investments and job hunting to background on many Western New York organizations.

B&ECPL established its new Network Center to support OPAC and other technology efforts at no additional expense to Erie County taxpayers. Reclassifying positions and transferring hours from other work units enabled B&ECPL to staff this important office without creating new positions. Computers and network hardware previously housed in the Rath Building were successfully relocated to the Central Library over Labor Day weekend without any disruption in public service.

On December, in addition to unveiling B&ECPL's new home page, the Central Library received 38 new OPAC and Internet access workstations. These PCs were funded in part by the Gates Library Foundation grant. Custom furniture for these workstations was funded by a quarter-million dollar grant from the Library Foundation of Buffalo and Erie County, Inc.

For the first time in more than a dozen years, B&ECPL's circulation of library materials declined, mirroring a trend among many urban public libraries. Circulation decreased by 2.9% overall, from a 1997 total of 8,997,924 to a 1998 total of 8,734,854. Focus groups and surveys conducted as part of the strategic planning process indicate that customers and potential customers demand new and different resources from their libraries. They have begun to seek their information and recreation through nontraditional means. The Library must respond to these shifts in order to maintain its relevance in a rapidly changing world. With the introduction of new technology and multi-media information formats alongside traditional forms, B&ECPL expects to remain vital and viable well into the 21st century. During its first month of operation, B&ECPL's home page on the World Wide Web registered more than 10,000 visitors - a clear indication that virtual trips to the library will be very popular in 1999.

Ironically, the web site opened for business at the start of a period of severe winter weather that kept many regular patrons from visiting the library in person. Some who were stranded at home by heavy snowfall found their way to the Library via the Internet. Through the new B&ECPL web site they were able to conduct searches of periodical databases, check on the availability of titles, or link to a wealth of useful information outside the four walls of their neighborhood branch library.

1998 System Statistics

Administrative Officers

Daniel L. Walters, Director (through October 1998)
Diane J. Chrisman, Deputy Director, Public & Support Services, (Interim Director from November 1998)
Kenneth H. Stone, Deputy Director-CFO
Shirley P. Whelan, Deputy Director-CIO

Financial Summary, 1998

*Of this amount $2,161,072.00 was paid to Erie County by the State of New York under the State Aid Program, Local Library Services Aid and Local Services Support Aid and $23,866,460.00 was paid to the Library by the Erie County as the share of the County Property Tax Levy designated for Library purposes.
 

1998 System Statistics

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