During the current economic downturn, many libraries in South Central Kansas and throughout the country have experienced increased usage. However, public, academic, school and special libraries have had to or will have to accommodate increased use with stagnant or reduced budgets. The State of Kansas has already decreased state aid to public libraries. Furthermore, other economic factors are likely to affect library budgets in the coming years. In response to these challenging times, the South Central Kansas Library System (SCKLS) invited members to attend one of three meetings during March 2009 which focused on the libraries’ responses to these uncertain economic times. The meetings included a complimentary lunch and provided a forum for librarians to network with other librarians, discuss strategies for addressing reduced or maintained funding, share ways of promoting their libraries as an important economic resource and identify resources to assist users seeking jobs. Paul Hawkins, SCKLS Director and Tom Taylor, SCKLS Continuing Education Coordinator, facilitated these discussions. 

See the workshop notice 

With one exception, 24 of 25 participants indicated increased recent use of the library in general and specifically: increased visits by users, circulation of library materials, use of computers and Internet resources and interlibrary loans. Among those library users who were self-identified as unemployed, library participants noted their use of library computers to file for unemployment benefits, complete online job applications and for personal education.

List of respones and libraries attending the meetings 

Public Library Budget Basics Power point presentation

Kansas Workforce Centers in the SCKLS region

Youth Booklist for Tough Economic Times

SCKLS Professional Development Collection  SCKLS maintains a professional library. Various titles address funding, promotional and other topics mentioned in the series. SCKLS also has subscriptions to library-related journals like American Libraries and Library Journal.

Del.icio.us is a social networking tool. SCKLS staff use it to bookmark web pages that can then be shared with others. To locate SCKLS on del.icio.us, type in user name “scklsstaff” and the relevant tags are “economy” and "job.resources".

Libraries in Uncertain Economic Times  March, 2009 series PowerPoint presentation

Libraries in Uncertain Economic Times  August 6, 2009 NCKLS PowerPoint presentation

Winfield Public Library Foundation Brochure pdf or Microsoft Publisher

Thriving in Tough Times by the State Library of Kansas 

ALA Advocating in a Tough Economy Toolkit 

ALA Winning Support for your Rural Library  

WebJunction Group Tough Times  

Wichita Workforce Center  

Kansas WorkforceONE  

Kansas Works  

Job-hunt.org Kansas

Bates, Mary Ellen. “Living Large in Lean Times.” In Searcher Vol. 17 No. 3—March 2009. Available: http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/mar09/Bates.shtml

Hanks, Kathy. “Consumers cut corners, lean on libraries.” In Hutchinson News 2/22/2009.

Tobias, Suzanne Perez. “Libraries Quietly Flourish.” In Wichita Eagle 2/17/2009.

Fiels, Keith Michael. “In Tough Economic Times: Making the Case for Libraries.” In American Libraries Vol. 40 No.3—March 2009, p. 8.

Hoffert, Barbara. “Book Buying Survey 2009: It’s the Economy.” In Library Journal February 15, 2009, p. 34-36. Available: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6634706.html?q=it%27s+the+economy

Curzon, Susan Carol. “Survivor: The Library Edition.” In Library Journal April 1, 2009, p. 22-24. Available: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6645870.html?q=survivor

Tobias, Suzanne Perez.  "Library Racks Up Visitors."  In Wichita Eagle 9/3/2009.