HomeMy WebLinkAboutReso - CC - 057-2003RESOLUTION NO. 57-2003
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BURLINGAME
URGING THE CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE TO REJECT
THE GOVERNOR'S PROPOSED ELIMINATION OF LIBRARY TRANSACTION
BASED REIMBURSEMENT (TBR'S) TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN THE STATE AND
TO MAINTAIN THIS VALUABLE TO SHARE SCARCE PUBLIC RESOURCES
THROUGHOUT THE STATE
RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Burlingame:
WHEREAS, thanks to thirty years of State and local cooperation, California residents
can walk into any library in the State and check out a book; and
WHEREAS, if a local library does not have a particular item, a person can remotely
borrow it from another library; and
WHEREAS, libraries can do this because of a program called Transaction Based
Reimbursement or TBR; and
WHEREAS, the Governor's proposed budget for 2003-2004 eliminates TBR and asks
that library users be charged for borrowing books from libraries other than their own; and
WHEREAS, if TBR is eliminated, a preschool child or a senior on a fixed income who
lives closer to a neighboring city could have to pay for every book borrowed; and
WHEREAS, students whose school districts cross several community lines could have to
pay to use the public library nearest their school; and
WHEREAS, college students, researchers or anyone who wishes to borrow a book not
available at their local library would have to pay fees; and
WHEREAS, this places an unfair burden on those who most need and use libraries and
can least afford to pay for them; and
WHEREAS, although a miniscule part of the state budget, TBR is a significant part of
many local library budgets; and
WHEREAS, many libraries will be forced to charge or deny service to those who live
outside their community and may also be forced to cut hours, book budgets and other services
residents depend on; and
WHEREAS, last year more than 30 million items were borrowed by library users from
libraries other than their own; and
WHEREAS, at less than 40 cents per loan, all Californians enjoy access to information
and resources much greater than even the largest local library can provide; and
WHEREAS, the Peninsula Library System has been a model of making access to the
collections of other libraries accessible to all customers and citizens; and
WHEREAS, the City of Burlingame is in the process of reducing its expenditures for
library services by 20% beginning July 1, 2003, which will reduce open hours by 15 % and
reduce book and materials budgets by 20%; and
WHEREAS, the proposed elimination of TBR's will mean an additional $ 280,000 in
service cuts for the Burlingame Public Library for fiscal year 2003-2004 alone; and
WHEREAS, charging fees is neither efficient nor effective for California residents and
eliminating TBR's will save little money statewide, but decrease library service significantly
across the state; and
WHEREAS, it is time for the Governor and the State Legislature to develop programs,
revenues, and budgets that make sense of the basic services that can only be provided on a
statewide basis and to discard a thoughtless, ad hoc process that has devastated local agencies for
the past ten years to preserve State programs,
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS RESOLVED:
1. The California Legislature is urged to restore and fully fund the Transaction Based
Reimbursement program for the state's public libraries at $ 12 million, or to develop a coherent,
commonsense approach that addresses the basic service needs of California citizens of all
economic classes and all localities.
OEM
I, ANN T. MUSSO, City Clerk of the City of Burlingame, do hereby certify that the
foregoing resolution was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council held on the 5th day of
may ,, 2003, and was adopted thereafter by the following vote:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: BAYLOCK, COFFEY, GALLIGAN, JANNEY, O'MARONY
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE
4LA k�L�
DEP CITY CLERK
2