With the recession, library budgets have been hit hard just as demand keeps climbing, a paradox that creates a resource gap for even the best-off libraries. Short term, the recession has library leaders scrambling to find ways to close the money gap and keep core services alive. Long term, it has them thinking about how to stabilize their…

It's no surprise that libraries in "LJ"'s annual budget survey reported an overall downward trend, with the expected decline in total budgets some 2.6% and the change in materials budgets 3.5%. Per capita funding is nudging down after years of steady if sometimes modest increases, with a projected decline of 1.6% in FY10. After all, the country…

Reports results of a survey of public libraries on fundraising. Data are presented on sources of funding, the importance of fundraising, fundraising contacts, types of fundraising activities, purposes for funds raised, other benefits, staffing, and the relationship between fundraising and size of budget. Some data are analyzed by geographical…

The United States is home to about 1.3 million organizations that fall under the IRS's 501(c)(3) classification of "[tax]-exempt organizations," known informally as nonprofits. A nonprofit is defined as a formally incorporated nongovernmental organization that operates in the public interest, rather than in order to make a profit. Its income, in…

In this article, the author describes how the New Orleans Public Library (NOPL) struggled with a fraction of its former staff, limited hours, and a massive fundraising challenge after Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. While previously 171 people staffed locations, only 40 employees plus a smaller--and shifting--cadre of…

Proposes targeting individuals, corporations, and charitable foundations and trusts as a means of supplementing library fund-raising campaigns. The basics of establishing and maintaining a private funds foundation are addressed, including goal setting, personnel required, and nurturing the library's relationship with the community. A sidebar by…

Discusses developments under three relatively new directors in the New York, Brooklyn, and Queens Borough Public Libraries. Highlights include budgets and fundraising, technology, mission statements, personnel, ethnicity, services, and renovations. (AEF)