On behalf of the Marshall County librarians, Gutekunst Public Library Director Mara Edler shared some facts and figures from both her facility in State Center and the others in the county and thanked the supervisors for their continued financial support over the years.

“As you can see, the libraries in Marshalltown, State Center, Melbourne, Le Grand, Albion and Gilman are very busy connecting county residents to one another and to the world,” she said.

According to Edler, county residents borrowed 267,973 items in fiscal year 2023, and librarians answered 6,909 reference questions on topics from local genealogy to the ongoing war in Gaza.

As she explained, the services offered go beyond simply offering books for patrons to check out, and libraries also help with homework for students, job searches, veterans services and more, and their computers and wi-fi hotspots are a lifeline for those who don’t have internet access at home.

T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Albion Public Library Board of Trustees Chairman Wade Dooley stepped forward during the public comment period of Wednesday morning’s board of supervisors meeting to reiterate the request for increased county funding.

In all, 129,516 people walked through library doors across the county during the most recent fiscal year, and 28,337 of them attended 1,873 different programs on a wide variety of topics.

“Because of our libraries, Marshall County residents had the opportunity to meet famous authors like William Kent Krueger, learn how to raise honeybees, encourage literacy through storytimes and small talk early childhood classes, attend magic shows, learn about Hispanic, indigenous and Jewish cultures, create art, exercise with senior citizens, develop computer code and prepare Ukrainian food,” Edler said. “Our libraries have the unique opportunity of providing programming for all patrons from newborns through senior citizens. That is something that is unusual about libraries that is not true across the board. We serve an incredibly diverse population.”

The focus of the conversation then shifted to the issue of money — specifically, how much money libraries receive, the impact of property tax cuts and how House File 718, with its consolidation of voter approved library levies into the general funds of cities, could affect the libraries in Marshalltown and Albion. After over 20 years of receiving $69,442, the county contribution increased slightly last year to $71,820, a funding rate of $10 per capita for reimbursement for service to the county’s rural patrons.

“This increase allowed county libraries to meet the minimum standard for county funding in the state library’s accreditation process for the very first time. Again, thank you very much for that,” Edler said. “However, please know that in the face of ever-increasing expenses and reduced funding streams, we respectfully request that the board consider an increase in funding to help us continue to make these critical connections in Marshall County.”

Based on the cost per checkout across the county ($5.40) and the numbers for rural residents in FY23, Edler estimated that the cost for service to rural patrons was $132,391.80 and asked the supervisors to help “close the gap.” After the floor was opened up for questions, Supervisor Carol Hibbs asked Edler how the $5.40 cost was figured, and she said it was an average of operating expenses divided by total circulation and then multiplied by the number of rural patrons using each library.

Hibbs also wondered whether the city of State Center was funding the library, and Edler said it was as part of the requirement by law for $0.0675 per $1,000 of valuation. The Gutekunst Trust is also a major funding source there.

“We love what we do. Please know that what librarians are doing is a labor of love, and we’re grateful for all your support,” Edler said.

While the discussion on library funding ended there for the time being, it came back up at the end of the meeting during the public comment period when Albion Library Board of Trustees Chairman Wade Dooley spoke in support of increased funding for the county’s libraries. Dooley pointed out that in years past, Marshall County had tied with Decatur County — the poorest in the state, located along the Missouri border — for level of support for libraries within the state, which he considered “kind of embarrassing.”

“I’m glad for the increased support that has been provided recently, but we are in desperate need of more because all of our libraries in the county don’t have enough money to increase services that are needed in the county,” he said. “We serve an awful lot of very different people with very different needs, and we do it with minimal staffing (and) minimal funding. And it’s not exactly a volunteer job, but we’ve got a lot of volunteers doing jobs that paid staff are supposed to do. But we don’t have the money for paid staff.”

He added that cities give “what they can” but, like counties, have other pressing needs like infrastructure to address.

“If you can find a few more slivers to go towards libraries, it would do a lot because libraries are already used to making do with very little. So a little more can go a long ways,” Dooley said. “Now, you give us a lot more, we can do a lot, lot more.”

Hibbs asked him about how the consolidation of the library levy will affect the Albion Public Library, and Dooley noted that the funding formula there was almost an inversion compared to most others in the state — less than 30 percent of the total funding comes from the city, and about three-quarters comes from other sources. Most libraries around Iowa are primarily funded by city taxes.

“So we are basically flipped, and that’s due in part to the fact that we have a new, improved, upgraded library that has a higher cost of operation because we’re doing more services. We have more staff time. We’re open more hours than we ever have been in the old building,” he said. “Our unique financial situation is challenging come budget time because we’re running as a pseudo nonprofit. We’re supposed to be a publicly funded entity. We’re supposed to be funded by the state, the county and the city, and instead we are more funded by grants, donations and the like and supplemented by the state, the county and the city. It’s very frustrating.”

Marshalltown Public Library Director Sarah Rosenblum echoed the comments of Edler and Dooley, reiterating her previous concerns about HF718 but expressing optimism about a potential “tweak” to the bill that could benefit libraries. She also touted libraries as “economic drivers” in the communities they serve.

Supervisor Steve Salasek asked Rosenblum about how the allocation is divided up between the county’s libraries and wondered how beneficial doubling the contribution would be in a place like Albion, to which Dooley said it would be “dramatic.” Rosenblum then encouraged the supervisors and everyone in attendance to visit their local libraries and explore all of the services they offer.

In other business, the board:

• Approved the hire of Sydney Grewell as the new Public Health Director at an annual salary of $68,000.

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Approved an update to the actuarial services agreement with Silverstone Group Inc. through Dec. 31, 2026.

• Removed an item regarding design upgrades for the jail/sheriff’s office complex from the table but did not take any action on the proposed contract for $847,983 with OPN Architects to complete the design of upgrades.

• Removed an item from the table regarding an additional employee in the buildings and grounds department but did not take action. Salasek said he would like to address it during the buildings and grounds budget meeting scheduled for next Thursday, and Board Chairman Jarret Heil said a budget amendment for the current year was an option as well.

During the public comment period, the board heard from rural Marshalltown resident Mark Wyant on his concerns about a nearby property turning into a hoarding/junkyard situation. Sheriff Joel Phillips said it wasn’t a criminal offense to have a dirty property in the rural areas of the county, but the matter might be better suited for County Sanitarian Taveis Stevens. Wyant also reiterated previous concerns about the condition of his gravel road. County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt said it would require some re-engineering of the road, and Wyant was happy to offer any right of way the county might need on his own property.

• Emergency Management Coordinator Kim Elder provided a brief update on the siren project, noting that the majority of the equipment is in. While they are still waiting on poles, she was optimistic about the chance to “get some things started yet this winter” if the weather holds up.

——

Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.