New Jersey’s Urban Libraries: Challenges and Strategies for Change: A Second Look

The Urban Libraries Section of the New Jersey Library Association was established to address the needs of public libraries serving our state’s urban centers. As the demand for services in urban areas continues to grow, even as funding declines and operating difficulties proliferate, New Jersey’s urban libraries must articulate the challenges facing them.    

Many of the problems facing urban libraries also confront libraries in suburban and rural settings. What distinguishes the urban situation is the potential scope and severity of the problems.  This condition is exacerbated by the critical, complex, and diverse needs of the patrons they serve. For example, while homelessness is not limited to urban centers, the homeless population in cities is much greater than those in other areas, as resources for homeless individuals are often based in urban centers.

Urban public libraries must be active partners in all spheres of the municipalities they serve.  Whether the library is trying to meet the educational needs of students or the social needs of its patrons, collaboration with agencies and non-profits can facilitate success.  The urban public library is most successful when perceived and serving as a community anchor, a resource for all its individuals and groups.

Challenge: Funding and Governance

The tax base of urban areas in New Jersey is weak, with few commercial ratables. As a result, property tax rates are high, but are still insufficient to meet the financial needs of the city government. Recent legislation has placed a cap on municipal budgets, the consequence of which being that many municipalities are now reducing library budgets to the minimum required by New Jersey law. 

I: Educate libraries in urban communities on an expanded range of funding options available.

• Identify alternate funding sources such as Community Development Block Grants.
• Create a checklist of widely available cost saving options, such as E-Rate applications, Tech Soup, and others.
• Collect and promote evidence of strong urban libraries as catalysts for community development and partners in economic progress.
• Foster mentorship relationships between successful urban libraries and struggling ones.

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II:  Support legislative action advancing additional funding opportunities for urban libraries.

• Ensure the NJLA Public Policy Committee substantially addresses the needs of urban libraries in legislative platforms.
• Communicate and advocate for appropriate federal legislation that furthers the goals of urban libraries.
• Develop training resources for urban library directors and trustees in advocacy and methods of municipal funding (e.g., bonding regulations).
• Request the State Library provide consultation to urban libraries for evaluating the merits of shared library service opportunities, including consortia, county libraries, joint libraries, district libraries.

III: Raise the awareness of government and business owners to the value of a strong library to a community.

• Educate chambers of commerce, real estate agencies, and other business groups on how a vital library is a crucial indicator of an economically strong and socially healthy community.
• Promote examples of urban libraries contributing to and supporting the community they serve, enhancing the concept of a public library’s importance in an urban setting.

Challenge: Supporting Educational Achievement and Lifelong Learning Partnerships     

            The incidence of illiteracy in urban areas is endemic and far greater than urban libraries’ capacity to remedy.  Literacy is a lifelong learning challenge, spanning from preschoolers, elementary-school age children, and teens to adults and seniors, and often existing within many generations of a family. Urban libraries respond with an array of programs, including basic literacy, family literacy and services to new immigrants, such as ESL and citizenship classes.

            New Jersey urban libraries serve students in low-income communities who typically score below the national average in state-wide standardized tests.  In the past, the state government has recognized that school districts serving these communities have pressing needs that warrant special funding.  No similar funds support the public libraries in those districts. In many urban areas, the public library serves de facto as the school library; the school library may either not exist at all or may be poorly staffed, with obsolete collections, and little or no technology or programs. Some charter schools and private schools lack any library service.  Urban schools turn to their public libraries to provide collections, programs, services, and outreach.  Furthermore, working families are better served by public libraries’ expansive hours of operation.

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I: Collaborate with urban schools to provide a cohesive and continuous learning community.

• Educate urban library staff on the importance of relationship-building with the school district to help support student achievement.
• Advocate for school libraries in every school, with professional staff and well-funded collections.
• Support school curricula and develop cooperative projects to promote recreational reading and develop lifelong learners.

II: Address the adult literacy needs in local community.

• Develop a survey of community literacy needs and learn what other providers are offering in a community (including churches and private tutoring companies); distribute to urban libraries and encourage those libraries to administer these services.
• Communicate with other literacy providers, locally and statewide, to determine the range of adult literacy programs a library might provide.
• Collaborate with other literacy providers through meetings, workshops, and conferences, identifying best practices and opportunities for cooperative programs.

III: Identify sources of funding for lifelong learning programs in public libraries.

• Collaborate with the New Jersey State Library in advocating and seeking funding for lifelong learning programs, e.g., focusing on the resources of the NJSL Foundation Center collections.
• Collaborate with other literacy providers within the community and other urban libraries in seeking grants.

Challenge: Facilities

            Since New Jersey’s urban public libraries were among the first in the state, their facilities are among the oldest.  These buildings, designated as historic sites or located in historic districts, merit careful stewardship.  This special attention required makes them more expensive to maintain and restore. Many of these facilities need extensive rehabilitation.  In the absence of funding, it is difficult for urban public libraries to address these urgent facilities needs.

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I: Identify methods to execute an assessment of urban library buildings.

• Work with the NJ State Library and NJLA to conduct a facilities survey for contemporary requirements, e.g., handicapped accessibility, fire codes, etc.
• Advocate for a position at the State Library for a Facilities Resource Consultant, who can provide guidance and options for facilities repair and renovation.
• Identify options to provide consultant assistance to urban libraries for devising long-term facilities planning.

II: Identify alternative facilities repair, enhancement, or replacement options.

• Explore and disseminate public and private funding opportunities.
  • Examples: Community Development Block Grant Funds, federal grants, historic preservation grants, economic development funds, relationship development, etc.
• Collect and share information regarding partnership opportunities.
  • Examples: mixed-use buildings, partnerships with developers, relationships with other municipal agencies, non-profits, etc.

III: Develop a plan to celebrate the unique history of urban public library facilities.

• Work with other NJLA sections/committees to collect the history of NJ’s urban public libraries.
• Develop a statewide public relations campaign, highlighting these facilities across the state.

Challenge: Staff Recruitment, Retention, and Development            

            Urban libraries face the perception, as well as the frequent reality, that their home municipalities are (at worst) unsafe and (at best) unattractive environments in which to work. In many cases, entry-level salaries are lower in these urban centers than in other areas.  Many current staff members have become dispirited after working in these daunting circumstances for years and would personally and professionally benefit from revitalized skills and fresh perspectives.

I: Identify strategies for recruiting committed and skilled staff.

• Encourage motivated support staff to move into professional positions and identify funding opportunities to enable necessary education.
• Collect information about programs that recruit and involve new library school graduates for urban public libraries.

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• Convene a meeting of urban library directors to identify key barriers to recruitment and retention and to explore options to address these.

II: Development recommendations and guidelines for staff continuing development.

• Identify opportunities and funding to upgrade skills, particularly in technology.
• Request revision of Core Competencies for Librarians, working with the Personnel Administration Subcommittee, to examine needs for 21st century libraries.

Challenge: Building, Maintaining and Preserving Collections

New Jersey’s urban libraries serve the oldest communities in the state. Their collections are rich with history. In order to be prudent stewards of this municipal and state heritage, urban libraries need funds to carefully preserve the rare, unique and fragile materials in their care.  Digitization provides the means for global access to our state's heritage.  New Jersey's urban public libraries serve a widely diverse population and their collections should embrace the varied history and culture within the community.

I: Develop a plan to preserve and maintain the state and local history contained in the urban public libraries of NJ.

• Identify and encourage the continued development of statewide initiatives to coordinate the concurrent digitization and preservation of unique and historical resources.
• Collaborate with the History and Preservation Section to revitalize the Advisory Committee on Preservation and Access.  The Group should continue to include representatives from museums and archives, as well as the library community.
• Work with the NJ State Library to create access to technical assistance for digitization projects in urban libraries, e.g., grant writing, project management, and facilitating access to necessary equipment.

II: Launch a collaborative effort for urban public libraries to meet the challenge of changing collection development needs.

• Create a forum pooling information for collection development, such as information about new or lesser known purchasing sources, organization of information, and alternate funding resources.
• Identify experts to assist in the location and purchase of materials in other languages, particularly non-roman alphabets.

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• Develop an action plan for the evolution of changing technologies, e.g., e-books and the particular challenges they represent for urban public libraries.
• Identify staff expertise to compile information about evolving popular needs within urban libraries, e.g., non-English language materials, urban fiction.
• Work with the Reference Section of NJLA to identify and recommend online resources that meet the unique needs of urban public libraries.

Challenge: Technology

Though progress has been made in bridging the digital divide, residents in urban areas still lag behind other groups in the percentage of residents who own computers.  If there is a computer or other device in the home, there may not be broadband internet access, or often the device is not compatible with all technology required to benefit from the digital revolution. For most city dwellers, the public library provides crucial access to technology. Most technology grants support the purchase of equipment but ignore the critical need for staff to maintain systems and to provide training for the public.

I: Identify and pursue technology initiatives that continue to proactively push digital access to urban residents in need.

• Identify corporate grants and foundation sources for funding of technology initiatives.

II: Identify continuing and changing technology needs of both libraries and their patrons.

• Encourage and assist libraries to fully utilize E-Rate opportunity.
• Identify standard and alternative means for providing technology skills to library staffs and patrons.

III: Support recognized agencies’ work in maintaining and distributing awareness of critical changes in the technological roadmap as it affects public libraries. 

• Educate underserved libraries on best practices for small and large-scale maintenance of hardware, networks, and workstations.

Revised 8/19/13

The following individuals worked on writing, editing and rewriting this document and should be acknowledged:

Andrew Luck, Paterson Public Library                                                                   Chelsea Woods, Paterson Public Library

Heidi Cramer, Newark Public Library                                                                    Joseph DaRold, Plainfield Public Library

Mary Ellen Rogan, Plainfield Public Library                                                          Christy Sayre, LMXac

Cindy Czesak, Paterson Public Library