The Sault's library-card botheration

Now that the dust has settled from last year's Chilly Willy's fiasco, the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library has returned to the drawing board.

The library's board of directors is starting work on a strategic plan that will chart future courses in areas like programming and technology.

And, of course, the controversial business of library locations.

Last week, board members were looking at draft designs for a community survey postcard intended to gather public input.

Two of the designs prominently displayed the nondescript front entrances of the library branches at Korah and Churchill Plaza.

Board Chair Chris Rous pushed for a third design, shown above.

It shows a grand new facility totally unlike any of the Sault's three existing public library locations.

Too grandiose? Too expensive?

One member of the board suggested the image might be too extravagant, steering expectations in the wrong direction.

But most of the board members sided with Rous.

We won't know until this fall whether the strategic plan will recommend a sparkly new public library building.

Any new locations will require approval from Sault Ste. Marie City Council, which appoints library board directors and ponies up the lion's share (about $2.8 million) of the library's $3.4 million annual budget.

When Roxanne Rissanen, chief executive officer and director of public libraries, appeared before City Council in March to provide an overview of library operations, one important statistic was notably absent from her presentation.

Rissanen cited lots of figures on things like hours of operation, program attendance and circulation.

Sharply declining membership

At no time during her 17-minute presentation did she mention that the number of active public library cards in Sault Ste. Marie dropped 6.7 percent in 2014.

In 2013, we had 22,468 active library cards.

By last December, we had 21,015, a loss of 1,453 library patrons in just one year.

A  first-quarter statistical report presented to the library board last week shows membership continuing to plummet this year.

By the end of March, the number of active library cards had dropped a further 1,459 to 19,899.

The disclosure of new losses in active memberships drew no comments from board members at last week's board meeting,

Approached by SooToday about the membership issue, members of the library board and administration acknowledged that it's a problem, but insisted it's not a serious problem.

'We know it's been dropping slightly'

"It's definitely not extreme," Rissanen told us. "But it is something that we're looking at addressing."

According to Rissanen, similar drops in membership are being experienced all over Ontario, with some libraries reporting steeper declines than the Sault's.

"We know that it's been dropping slightly. So what we've been doing is being involved more in offering programs out in the community, and making connections with people where they are," she said.

Indeed, library staff participated in 30 local events last year, signing up a total of 464 members.

Kindergarten welcome days at elementary schools are a good hunting ground, as are the Sault College Job Fair and the annual Spring Expo.

"You can take one of our computers and sign you up at the Spring Expo," says Chris Rous, the library board's chair. "You can actually sign up and get a library card. A number of years ago, you couldn't do that with the older system.".

Lapsed library cards often can still be used for digital downloads

"It's cyclical," Rous says of the membership decline. "Just see what happens next year. It just changes."

Library cards expire after they haven't been used for two years.

One location that seems largely immune to the membership issue is the Korah branch - the number of active cards there dropped just three percent last year and has actuallly risen two percent this year.

"Membership is incredibly important." Rissanen tells SooToday. "But I think it's also important to know how many people are coming into the library, to attend our programs, as well as the electronic resources."

Luke Dufour, who recently joined the library board, points to the disruptions caused by having three directors of libraries last year, making it hard for staff to focus on corporate goals.

Adds Dufour: "The benefits of the public library are not restricted to just members only, because it is a free membership and it is a community resource. Your membership numbers, while being significant and important, the benefits for a library go beyond just numbers."

To this, Rous comments that it might be a good idea to consider making it mandatory to have a library card to attend programs at the publc library.

If patrons don't have cards, they could be signed up on the spot, he said.

'Haven't renewed my library card. Not sure if I even have the card'

Why are thousands of Saultites allowing their library cards to expire?

As technology changes how consumers obtain information, more and more people are finding what they need on their home computers and mobile devices.

For long-time SooToday reader Karen Oben, transportation is an issue.

"I haven't renewed my library card, not sure if I even have the card," Oben says.

She lives in the west end.

The Steelton library operated there for 73 years  but it closed in 1992.

"In this area, it takes a bus to go to the terminal, then transfer to get on the bus that goes to the [main] library. I think in the winter, it's pretty undesirable."

'I let the card run out and stopped going'

"They really cut back on magazines and international newspapers. That's where they lost me," says Ann Sarich, a Saultite currently working on a short-term contract in Sudbury.