Employees who not only lend a book, but also help someone with making a vaccination appointment. Libraries have more and more tasks on their plate, but because of budget cuts, they often have to make do with less money. The library in Hoogeveen is therefore now ringing the bell.
“There have been several rounds of cutbacks in recent years,” says director Raquel Garcia-Van der Walle. “Last year even two tons, so our services have been overhauled.” It has ensured that the library is no longer open on Monday evenings and that many activities have been canceled. “For example, the programming course for young people, we can no longer do that.”
But Garcia-Van der Walle has bigger concerns. She fears that the library will have to deal with even more budget cuts in the future. “We are already under financial pressure and that makes our position vulnerable,” she says. In Hoogeveen there are about 8800 people with low literacy. They receive help from the library in the field of reading, writing and digital skills. According to the director, that aid could disappear if cuts are made again
“Volunteers mainly help people, but there is a coordinator who makes sure that everything runs smoothly. A part of our budget goes there,” she continues. “If there is less subsidy, our staff will not be able to support this group properly. We must prevent that, because it is these people who need our help.”
Colleague Karin Grond is one of the employees who supports low-literate people. She helps them with making a vaccination appointment and with the tax return. “They greatly appreciate that and it is also very important to them. Now we can still take the time for that and train them to do it themselves in the future. If more cutbacks are made, we will lose that peace and space. there are no people available to help.”
According to Garcia-Van der Walle, personnel costs are still rising every year. “We have to spend a lot. Of course it concerns the salary of our employees, but the peripheral matters also cost a lot of money. Think, for example, of the coffee we have to stock.”
The director has since sent a letter to the college and the city council. In it she calls on not to cut back on the subsidy from the library in the coming years. “It has a lot of impact on the residents of Hoogeveen and we must be able to continue to do our job well.”
According to her, another solution is to re-index the subsidy for the library. The costs continue to rise, but the subsidy of 1.5 million euros is not adjusted for inflation. By correcting the amount by 3 percent, 50,000 euros will be released for the library. Just enough to absorb the cost increase without having to further reduce the service.