In a previous post, I stressed the importance of laying out requirements for Requests for Reconsideration (RfRs). RfRs take extensive time and effort which end up costing the library in time, effort and taxpayer dollars that are taken away from doing another part of library work for your community. Let’s explore this in a bit more detail. I’ve discussed how professional librarians are tasked with being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. This is because libraries are, by and large, municipal departments. The largest portion of funds from municipal budgets generally go towards staff salaries. Remaining municipal funds, plus funds from state aid, and donations from Friends groups or Foundations are often applied towards programs that move the library’s community forward in areas such as (but definitely not limited to):
- digital literacy and bridging the digital divide
- helping skilled workers enter the job pipeline
- aiding budding entrepreneurs
- guiding new Americans to become valuable citizens in our society
- offering early literacy guidance to families
- preparing children for kindergarten readiness
- supporting K-12 students by partnering with schools
- safeguarding patron privacy
These are the types of regular duties that professional and paraprofessional library staff are spending their time on, in addition to the more visible services of ensuring access to information, including your library holds. Libraries are offering essential services to their communities at no cost to individual patrons, making the most of every penny a municipality invests in them. * Any time spent by staff members at any level that are outside the regular duties I’ve described can put a strain on already limited time and budgets. **
️🔢 Let’s compile some numbers
When a book, program, display or other library service is challenged, much of what I described above gets put on hold to address the concern(s) brought to the library. The cost of these challenges is not often discussed, so finding data points such as the average cost of a single challenge, or how much a state spends on book challenges over the course of a year are difficult to find and even more difficult to standardize. Many don’t realize that book (or display, or program) challenges are a very real strain on taxpayer funds. Costs vary between states and municipalities based on staff salaries and more. Much of the data gathered about the cost of book challenges is from schools and indicates that schools across the US have spent more than $3 billion each year on investigating book challenges. There is less data on how much public library challenges cost. However, the MBLC collects data that all certified public libraries report annually through ARIS and in recent years we’ve included statistics on formal RfRs or intellectual freedom challenges.***
For our current purposes, we can calculate the cost of book challenges for fiscal year 2023 in Massachusetts’s public libraries based on the data we already routinely collect:
- The average hourly wage of a professional (i.e. MLIS holding) librarian in MA is $33.56/hr.
- I will also use this wage ($33.56) the professional librarian salary for library Administration but please keep in mind:
- Library Administration (Directors and Assistant Directors) earn higher salaries than the average professional librarian, but the difference between administrative and professional salaries varies widely across municipalities.
- Not every library has an Assistant Director (or equivalent)
- This makes any result from these calculations VERY conservative.
- There were 40 unique challenges to materials, services or programs in MA in FY24.
🔎 What really goes into a Request for Reconsideration?
How long does a reconsideration process take once a formal request for reconsideration (RfR) has been activated? This will vary by library, but using the guidelines outlined in my previous blog post and figures based on request for reconsideration procedures already in place at some public libraries, here is an approximation of the time investment for each step of the process:
| Steps of the RfR Process | Approximate time invested |
|---|---|
| A Library Director, upon receiving a challenge, will usually spend some time researching the material being challenged, the reviews of the material and the library’s collection development policy | 1 HOUR |
| Provided the library has a large enough staff, the Director will assemble a review committee of about 3 professional librarians who will research the material in question and its reviews along with the challenger’s complaint, and discuss a course of action based on the collection development policy | 3 staff members, each investing about 3 hours = 9 HOURS |
| The Director will inform the staff member who ordered the book about the challenge. The Director will also inform the Chair of the Board of Library Trustees, ensuring the Board is aware that the issue is being handled according to policy. This also ensures Board has some background information should the complainant wish to appeal the library’s decision to the Trustees. | 1 HOUR |
| The review committee will meet with the Library Director and inform the Director of their decision, including reasoning | 1HOUR |
| The Director will compose a response based on the committee findings, informing the person who put forth the request of the library’s decision | 1 HOUR |
| This totals approximately 13 hours of senior/administrative staff time. Multiplying the total staff time spent (13 hours) by the average hourly wage ($33.56) , the cost to the challenge 1 book in Massachusetts is $436.28, at a minimum. (13 x $33.56 = $436.28) |
For the 40 challenges MA libraries received in FY2024, the cost was more than $17,415 in taxpayer dollars and more than 520 hours of senior/administrative staff time devoted to book challenges. The process is very similar for a challenge to a program or service. ****
One more note about the factors in the above calculations. They only take into account senior staff and admin time, but the time, energy, and efforts for reconsideration taken on by professional staff not directly involved in a challenge (ex. the staff member who ordered the challenged item) or paraprofessional staff who are often the ones at the front desk fielding the initial complaint should not be underestimated. They are not included in these calculations because the costs are very difficult to standardize in terms of both wages and time spent with someone submitting a complaint. But never forget that it is generally the staff on the frontlines that are getting the unfiltered initial complaints that are often emotionally charged.
Which leads me to one, final note about the costs of requests for reconsideration. There is an incalculable emotional cost at every level of these challenges. Even under the best of circumstances, if someone is moved enough to go through the process to formally challenge something in the library, they feel very strongly about their position. How members of the public express their concern varies widely, but no matter how much experience a staff member has in libraries, or how many years they have been working at public service points, the underlying emotional tension associated with a challenge is high. It is most important for everyone to keep in mind that library workers – at all levels – are people first; they are more than the items they order or the programs they put on or the desks that they work. They are professionals and paraprofessionals who feel strongly about doing the best for their community. It will vary widely from person to person, but when the public calls into question the dedication of library workers to the library’s mission, the emotional cost is immeasurable.
* Last week’s blog post “Calculating and Communicating Your ROI” details how valuable these services are in terms of municipal return on investment (ROI), and you can check out different library value calculators to determine your library’s ROI.
** In Massachusetts’s fiscal year 2024, the total percentage of the state’s general fund that was invested into libraries totalled 1.09%. To find out what percent of its budget your municipality invests in libraries, and to see how that percentage compares to the state’s investment, take a look at your municipal pie.
*** We also collect data on informal challenges (complaints, turning books spine-in, relocating a book without staff knowledge, etc. but without taking the step of filing an RfR) which are also a strain on time and budgets, but those are much more difficult to calibrate.
**** While the above description applies to the procedures when a program is challenged, there is often an extensive increase in security, sometimes with the use of both municipal police and private security. This also incurs costs paid for by taxpayer dollars.