Peninsula Friends of the Library

The May 27, 2010 issue of The Palos Verdes Peninsula News ran a comprehensive front page story on the Palos Verdes Library District budgetary status. If you missed the article, you can access it directly at this link: Library District Looks at Preliminary Budgets. The content of the article also appears below. The article points out the importance of the Peninsula Friends of the Library to assisting with special programs for the District. If you would like further information about becoming a Friend, call (310) 377-9534, Ext. 250.

PVLD’s 2010-11 budget sees a small gain.

By Rebecca Villaneda, Peninsula News
Thursday, May 27, 2010 10:37 AM PDT

With the Los Angeles County property tax estimates in, the Palos Verdes Library District will claim a net surplus of about $43,000 for its 2010-11 budget.

Because property tax revenues — PVLD’s main revenue source, at 89 percent of its budget — came in flat (no growth), the district had to lean more on its No.-1 supporter, the Peninsula Friends of the Library.

The Friends will give PVLD about $300,000 to help balance its budget this fiscal year.

“It’s going to be a tough couple of years, but staff is working really hard, as are the Friends, to do everything we can to make sure we minimize the impact on our services and on the community,” PVLD Director Kathy Gould said.

While the district remains in the black this year, Finance Director Julie Mattix said in 2011-12 the PVLD is facing a $450,000 to $500,000 deficit.

This partially is attributed to L.A. County’s assessed values decreasing overall by about 2.3 percent, compared to 1 percent last year, Mattix said.

Through property tax revenues, the PVLD receives about $5.7 million, and its bottom-line expenditures are at $6.5 million.

The PVLD’s No.-1 expense is salaries and “related costs.” Because its staff is part of a union, salaries increase 4 to 5 percent each year, based on a memorandum of understanding.

“If our growth in property tax revenues isn’t growing by 4 to 5 percent, we need to find other means of how to balance our budget,” Mattix said.

To generate internal income, Gould said, the district again will expand its passport hours, close on additional holidays, such as Presidents Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and will add services like exam proctoring.

The Peninsula Center Library will continue to close at 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Gould said.

“We’re going to continue our cost-cutting measures that we’ve had in effect for the past couple of years, and we’re going to increase our fundraising efforts,” said PVLD board of directors President Fran Wielin.

Even with the PVLD facing economic challenges, it has seen an increase in library usage across the branches, Gould said. And, although it’s not as busy as last year, which Gould attributes to cut hours and “less opportunity for people to get here,” the demand for its services, such as Internet and after-school programs, has risen.

Initially, PFL was going to give the PVLD about $50,000 less than it currently has agreed to, but through hours of book sales, as well as the recent 80th anniversary celebration that raised about $40,000, Gould said the nonprofit was able to offer more.

“The purpose of the Friends is to support the Library District and things that [it is] unable to fund for [itself],” said Jane Jones, president of the Friends and a member for about 20 years. “We have been giving them money every year for quite a few years — around $150,000 a year — which goes primarily to support reading programs for children, teenagers and adults, and then to support the cost of keeping the library open on Sunday afternoons.”

This year, the Friends’ support also will go toward supporting early literacy stations for preschoolers, a new sound system for the Peninsula Center Community Room, surveillance cameras for the Peninsula Center Library, as well as new graphic-design software, according to Jones.

To raise more funds, the Friends will hold another gala event next year, similar to the 80th anniversary, on Saturday, March 12, 2011. And even sooner, the PFL will hold its Cookout for Books event on Wednesday, June 2.

Required reserves

By law, the PVLD is required to maintain a fund balance of six months worth of operating expenses, Gould said. Once that money is set aside, the board additionally will fulfill its reserve policy of 5 percent of operating revenue for unforeseen emergencies.

For 2010-11, that number will be about $325,000.

“Then, once that’s put aside, we look at what our capital expenditures are going to be — that’s things like replacing computers. Eventually, you have to plan for replacing roofs on all of the buildings, refreshing paint, replacing worn carpet in the areas — all those things that are a part of keeping the buildings up to a standard and keeping them safe,” Gould said. “We’re facing a tough year next year. If the revenue doesn’t pick up — because expenses still do continue to rise, even though we’re cutting a lot — at some point you cut pretty much all you can. We’ve deferred a lot and you can’t defer it forever. That stuff starts to catch up with you, and we [will] start to see that in 2011-12.”