Patrons from outside the bounds of the Niles Public Library District are now welcome to participate in its programs after the library’s board of trustees voted Wednesday night to amend their policy.
The board voted 4-1 to approve the change. Trustee Carolyn Drblik voted against the amendment on the basis that the library should be for the benefit of Niles taxpayers.
Library director Susan Lempke said patrons from outside the district would only be allowed to participate in library programs after in-district patrons had been accommodated. She said the village “is trying very hard to attract people to Niles” and the library is a key component in that effort. Some of the library’s programs are well attended while others might only attract a few in-district patrons, Lempke said.
“I would rather leave it in the hands of staff to determine where there is not room to be sharing with other people,” she said.
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Drblik criticized the amendment and suggested the library alter its program offerings if attendance is lagging.
“We need to remember we’re established here for all the Niles taxpayers,” Drblik said. “Maybe if you have small enrollment in these programs, you need to rethink whether the programs you’re providing are what residents want.”
But Lempke and library board president Linda Ryan argued that other area libraries have an open door policy when it comes to providing programming for individuals living outside their district boundaries.
Lempke said there’s sometimes a perception among Niles patrons “that they’re having to share their library with other people, but they’re not realizing our people are also going and sharing things in other libraries.”
Ryan said she surveyed Chicago, Skokie and Des Plaines public libraries and all said they allow patrons from outside their districts to participate in their programs. She said Skokie indicated that very occasionally they may offer a program specifically for Skokie residents.
Drblik cited Park Ridge Public Library as an example of an area library that charges fees to outside patrons who participate in certain programs.
She also criticized Lempke for not providing her with detailed data on the costs associated with library programming.
“You’re not sharing that information with me,” she said to Lempke. “You’re refusing to give me the information I ask for so it seems very secretive. If we’re going to put on a program we should be able to determine after it was over if it was successful based on who attended and how much it cost.”
Lempke said library staff have kept a close eye on what was spent on programming both in terms of time and money, in addition to surveying patrons. That information has not come before the board because it’s a granular level of detail typically not reviewed by trustees, she said.
The library’s business manager, Greg Pritz, said in an interview after the meeting that the library earmarked about $86,000 out of a total budget of roughly $6 million for library programming last year. In the past month alone, he said, the library hosted a variety of programs for children, teens and adults, including English as a second language classes, a class on estate planning, a utility bill clinic, a class for teens interested in playing the ukulele, several Shakespeare projects, and a property tax appeals seminar.
Ryan said that as long as the costs associated with library programming falls within the amount budgeted, it’s the job of staff — not the board — to evaluate its programs.
“That’s an excuse for blowing our money,” Drblik replied.
In other board business, trustees voted 5-0 following an executive session Wednesday night to give Lempke a 3 percent raise, Pritz said. The raise, effective May 20, will bump her salary from $122,000 to $125,660, he said.
Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.