A Bound Book Budget

When Rush Limbaugh published “The Way Things Ought to Be” in 1992, the Orange County Public Library system snapped up 300 copies of the talk radio host’s bestseller and distributed them to its 28 branches.

Eighteen months later, however, the system purchased only 15 copies of Limbaugh’s follow-up, “I Told You So,” forcing library patrons to wait weeks to check out a copy.

The change underscores the financial problems facing county libraries, where the budget for new books and periodicals has dropped from $6 million in 1992 to $3 million this year.

The Board of Supervisors this month is scheduled to consider a library reorganization plan that would slash spending on books to just $1.6 million.

“This is the lowest it will ever be. We’ve bottomed out,” said Orange County Librarian John M. Adams. “It’s always difficult to make these kinds of cuts. . . . But as our [financial] situation stabilizes, it’s going to be my top priority to restore materials funds.”

Because of the cuts, libraries are buying fewer copies of bestsellers, scrutinizing the purchase of expensive reference books and discontinuing scores of magazine subscriptions to such well-known publications as Variety and the Atlantic Monthly.

The Brea branch lost about 70 of its 250 magazines, while the Tustin branch lost 25 of its 175 titles. Librarians said the losses would have been much greater if volunteers didn’t donate dozens of magazine subscriptions dropped by the county.

“It’s terrible for the people who depend on the libraries to keep up-to-date information,” said Eleanore Humphrey, a Costa Mesa library user and volunteer. “People come to the library and get disappointed because they can’t find the book or magazine they want.”

Reductions in material purchases is just one way the library system is coping with a dwindling operating budget that has shrunk from $27 million in 1991 to about $17.5 million this year.

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Officials have also cut operating hours, raised fees and fines and sold one branch to Leisure World in Seal Beach, which now operates the facility as a private library.

The financial woes stem from the state’s decision five years ago to balance its own budget by cutting the amount of property tax revenues allocated to libraries and other special districts.

Adams’ reorganization plan attempts to distribute resources based on the amount of tax revenue each community generates rather than tapping into system reserves.

As a result, branches in Irvine and Costa Mesa will be open Sundays for the first time in nearly two decades. But libraries in Stanton and Garden Grove will continue to have limited operating hours.

The cuts in book and periodical acquisitions are being felt throughout the county. In the past, each branch received several copies of hot bestsellers. Now, only a handful of these books are purchased, and patrons must often special order copies from other branches.

The waiting lists can be long. But the system also purchases additional copies of bestsellers that can be rented out for $1.50 a week for those readers eager to bypass the waiting list.

“This gives us more mileage over our limited collection,” Adams said.

By buying fewer bestsellers, the system can continue to get more obscure reference titles and business-related materials “that folks can’t find anywhere else but at the library,” Adams said.

Librarians have also trimmed their collections of magazines by 20% to 40%.

At the Tustin library, more than half of the 60 cut subscriptions were restored thanks to community donations. The saved titles include McCall’s, Martha Stewart Living and Popular Mechanics. But the library could not find sponsors for Christianity Today, Black Enterprise and about 22 other magazines.

“It’s been hard on us, but it made us rethink our collection and determine what is used and what isn’t,” said Branch Librarian Emily Moore. “It made us stop and look at what the community really wanted.”

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County officials said the library system reorganization should bring a greater degree of financial stability and enable them to seek outside grants and large private-sector donations. Some cities and library volunteer groups are also contributing money to local branches.

When more acquisition funds become available, Adams said he would like to expand the system’s children’s book collection and purchase a computer database of telephone directories from across the country.

Humphrey, the Costa Mesa library activist, said she hopes more money becomes available soon. “If this continues, you’ll get to the point when some people will just bypass the libraries,” she said.