By Tom Steward | Watchdog Minnesota Bureau
Patrons used to go to the library to check out books. Today, people go for any number of reasons. But while there’s something for everyone at the 365 branch libraries statewide, some events leave discerning taxpayers wondering whether it’s something everyone should pay for.
People go for the secret life of puppets ($13,200), farmer comedian Roger Radley ($9,154), stage combat demonstrations with sword fights and mock brawls ($608), duct tape wearables classes ($300) and a series on darkness ($3,816).
All are taxpayer-funded programs, now commonplace in Minnesota libraries.
“We’re always evolving. Libraries have been around forever and books have been our brand, but it’s more that knowledge has been our brand. And that comes in all kinds of packages,” said Melinda Ludwiczak, who oversees arts and cultural programming for the Metropolitan Library Service Agency, the largest of 12 state regional library systems.
Six years after voters approved a .0375 percent Legacy Amendment sales tax increase for the arts and environment, a total of $20.5 million has been allocated for arts, culture, literary and Minnesota history programming through the state’s 12 regional library systems.
State libraries receive $3 million a year in appropriations from the Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Now, they want a 35 percent raise from lawmakers this session.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE: MN libraries hope to increase their annual $3 million appropriation of Arts and Cultural Heritage Funds by $1.25 million, partly due to the popularity of the “Moo!” statewide children’s reading series.
“We do have a request for funding for libraries again this year. We require reports regarding how the money is spent. After the ill-advised appropriation of $45,000 for one author in 2010, I believe that the libraries have been more careful in how and to whom money is granted,” Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, who chairs the House Legacy Funding Finance Committee, said in an email. The $45,000 fee went to best-selling author Neil Gaiman, who appeared in Stillwater.
Under the funding formula, the largest regional library, MELSA, receives $1.14 million from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. The 11 smaller library systems spend $75,000 to $261,000 annually on legacy-funded activities.
But attendance for Legacy funded library events remains flat, totaling 160,000 in 2014 compared to 165,000 in 2012, Minnesota Library Association figures show. Spread across 1,400 programs held last year, libraries spent an average of $18.75 per attendee at Legacy-funded activities.
“We’re looking at things that reflect our communities and that we’re being good stewards of a limited financial resource. We aren’t guaranteed this money. Every biennium we have to go in and request it at the Legislature,” said Ludwiczak.
In an age of increasingly decentralized information with e-books and streaming video, library officials rave about the opportunity to reinvent the institution and drive more traffic through Legacy-funded events.
“There has been a tremendous opportunity for the residents of Anoka County where they have been able to be exposed to culture, history, other things that give them a better understanding for the arts, culture and history of Anoka and the state as a whole,” said Marlene Moulton Janssen, Anoka County Library director, citing a standing-room only crowd at an event with the local historical society last weekend.
A quick review reveals a wide range of legacy-funded activities: “Peter and the Wolf,” a hip hop dancing scientist, the Irish trio Northern Gael, reusable bag workshops, a high school poetry competition held with the Loft Literary Center, henna tattooing, author Christina Kline of the bestseller “Orphan Train” and the Grammy Award-winning Okee Dokee, for example.
“Public libraries, like many older American institutions, seem to have lost their original purpose and direction in our rapid-fire information lives,” said Anntte Meeks, CEO of the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota. “Most of their fundamental missions (information gathering, providing research and study areas) are long gone and replaced by massive computer centers that allow those without Internet access a place to maintain contacts and job search.”
Other taxpayer-funded offerings include:
The “history of Minnesota’s beer scene” was explored in six programs that drew 24 attendees to Lake Agassiz Regional Library branches ($4,982).
Awesome adventures in accordion books taught 67 participants over seven workshops in the Viking Library System on the making of decorative accordion books ($2,864).
Noise guy showed 848 attendees in Carver County libraries “how to make sound effects and (told) stories he has written and illustrated” ($2,650).
Grilling 101 served up tips on “proper ways to cook and serve meat” for 13 knowledge-starved Traverse des Sioux Regional Library system attendees ($273).
Free museum and event passes were given to 8,800 Arrowhead Library System patrons “to attend regional museums and learn about local history and culture” ($101,183).
“The museum pass was VERY popular and helped build some important relationships between our libraries and the “museum” venues in our area,” Jim Weikum, Arrowhead Regional Library director, said in an email.
“Some of this is trying to be clever in the titles in order to entice somebody to come to the program, so there’s a part of that and how we present the program,” said Ludwiczak. “My office looks at everything (for MELSA), and there are times when I tell my librarians, ‘No, you can’t do that program. It doesn’t fit the law.’”
FLAT ATTENDANCE: Library records indicate Roger Radley, a farmer comedian, was paid $9,154 for 9 performances that attracted 291 attendees to Lake Agassiz Regional libraries, as overall attendance to Legacy Fund programs plateaued at 160,000.
Local media figures show up at various libraries, such as meteorologist Mike Lynch’s star-gazing seminars for the Plum Creek Regional System ($2,179). Mark Moran of “Antiques Roadshow” will appear for the third time at an Anoka County library in a few weeks, for a fee of $400.
At the same time, libraries have presented hundreds of programs featuring Minnesota artists, authors, musicians, cultural groups and modestly-priced presenters, such as Bruce the bug guy ($562) and Buster the reading clown ($192) to help “students experience an active enhanced storytime” and to encourage reading.
“The Legacy programs have provided small-town communities in Central Minnesota with unprecedented (and much appreciated) access to high quality creative, historical, and cultural programming, free of charge,” says a 2011 posting on the Great River Regional Library website urging constituents to lobby legislators for continued funding.
“I’m just astonished at what people have come up with on their own to use Legacy dollars, often at very small costs, but they’re bringing together their communities to see what they’re about. It’s an amazing program,” said Peg Werner, director of Viking Library System.
Libraries must report spending, attendance and outcomes on a state Legacy Fund website.
A GRRL 2013 report lists measurable outcomes, including “an increased positive attitude toward theatre” and “at least one new idea or concept learned (knowledge) or have a richer cultural life.”
Audience comments run the gamut: “Learned a lot of Civil War facts that aren’t in history books.” “Learned how to load a musket.” “I’m going home to practice my piano with zest!” “We got to stretch our creativity genes!”
Yet a spot check of the system by Watchdog Minnesota Bureau found a lack of detail in some reports and a significant error.
“Oversight and transparency is an ongoing concern, and we will continue to monitor it as far as library funding is concerned,” Urdahl said.
The state website shows that a May 2014 Traverse des Sioux Library event called Karate 101 cost $10,046 and attracted just four participants. When notified by Watchdog Minnesota Bureau, the instructor confirmed only a handful showed up for her class yet was astounded at her supposed payment.
“I was paid $800 for workshops, and for mileage (232 miles roundtrip at $.56 per mile) I was paid 129.92. So the total payment to me was $929.92,” said Mary Brandl, an instructor and consultant with Minneapolis Community Crime Prevention/SAFE Program. “I did look at your link, and am totally mystified by the amount listed there.”
Library advocates hope to leverage the public response to a popular coordinated statewide reading program based on the award-winning children’s book “Moo!” in their drive for increased funding.
“That one has a lot of legs and a lot of input from librarians around the state and how they wanted that program to play out,” said Ludwiczak. “And so it’s been really successful. Kids have been really excited about it.”
It’s quite a contrast with the first year of programming, when no one showed up for several youth-oriented events featuring renowned Guthrie Theater actors. A total of 229 attended 32 Guthrie programs at GRRL libraries in 2010 at a cost of $12,903.45.
But they set the stage for future acts like Sean Emery, the comedian juggler, who drew 580 attendees for 14 presentations of “comedic educational juggling” at a comparable bargain — $10,578.