Boca survey shows library services rate more taxes

Survey also shows more e-services in demand

  • The Downtown Library is currently under construction and is expected to be completed sometime this year.
The Downtown Library is currently under construction and is expected to…
February 22, 2013|By Anne Geggis, Sun Sentinel

When it comes to their libraries, Boca Raton residents are a lot like Warren Buffet: They are willing to pay more taxes — up to a point.

A whopping majority — 71 percent of those who returned a survey — said they would pay more taxes for library services. The email survey, the first step in a new planning process, was sent to the inboxes of 10,000 library patrons last year and about 14 percent of them were returned. The report came out earlier this month.

The largest proportion of those surveyed — 43 percent — capped the increase they were willing to pay at $10 more per year. Another 26 percent said they would be willing to pitch in $20 more annually.

Library Services Manager Tom Sloan said he wasn't surprised at the support. Generally, people seem willing to pay more for good libraries, Sloan said.

What did surprise administrators, however, is the amount of interest in library services that people use from the comfort of their own home: checking items out electronically. When respondents were asked to rank the importance of services, electronic services came in third behind media for adults and media for children.

"This is the first time that e-library services have been identified as a high priority," Sloan said.

A few months short of a year since Boca Raton started offering books that could be checked out over the Internet and returned automatically, 12,201 books have been checked out by 1,552 unique library patrons.

It's enough that Boca library services are going to start looking into offering audiobooks and music the same way, Sloan said.

"We have concluded the demonstration of ebook services has been a success," Sloan said.

Expanding into a new arena is not an easy decision, however. General fund support for the library was decreased by $57,700 in the current year's budget. With a new, $9.5 million library opening this spring, Sloan said it seemed important to take the community's pulse on what it viewed as important library services.

During the next 10 years, he said he expects people will want both the traditional library offerings while others expect materials that will maximize the digital capabilities.

"It's very interesting to me that we are seeing this hybrid time," he said. "With the fiscal challenges we face and the rapid change in technology, we want to make sure we are fully aligned with the community's needs."

ageggis@tribune.com or 561-243-6624

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