A study on the effects of the cutbacks within the Dutch Arts and Culture sector.
Summary
Reading adds great value to our lives. Those who start young, will have lifelong benefits. There is one facility where we have all been, the library. The library is a place filled with books, from fairy tales to scientific articles. Behind the scenes of this place, there is a lot going on. The government has decided to lower the amount of subsidy for the public libraries. For this report research was done on how these cutbacks influence the accessibility of public libraries.
Research
This report is constructed to find the answer on the question: ‘how is the accessibility of public libraries in the Netherlands influenced due to the cutbacks’?. To find an answer on this question an interview with a librarian in Groningen was conducted and previous researches were studied.
Outcome
Research has shown that as result of the cutbacks libraries have to find ways of external funding, sponsors and/or they have to cooperate with other organisations if they want to survive the coming years. In addition, smaller libraries in villages have less change to survive. Their amount of members is several times less then libraries in cities. The contribution members pay, is one of the main and biggest income of the public libraries. Furthermore, the government will focus the coming years on digitalisation of the libraries. Which means, besides the jobs that were already lost, more jobs will become unnecessary. On the other hand, the digital library is accessible everywhere you are, this will benefit the members.
Conclusion
The accessibility itself it not so much in danger, it is the public libraries who are more at risk. Every time a library closes in a village, the members have to travel to the next village or even further. Not only in villages the libraries themselves are in danger, in cities some municipalities decided to close establishments to create one large library or to house them in other buildings such as schools or care homes.
1. Introduction
‘Books help us to understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean, they show us how to live and die.’
– Anne Lamot.
Almost everyone learns how to read as soon as we start our school carrier. This because you have to be able to read to fit into society. Recreational reading on the other hand has different benefits. According to a research of Dr David Lewis (2009), reading can reduce stress with 68% more compared to listening to music, 100% in comparison to drinking a cup of tea, 300% compared to taking a walk and 700% more than playing video games. Furthermore Mar, Hirsh, dela Pas & Peterson. (2006) state that readers of fiction tend to have better abilities of empathy and theory of mind. Oatley (1994) describes this as experiencing a simulated reality and feeling real emotions to the conflicts and relationship of story characters.
‘Reading is dreaming with open eyes’.
– Unknown
In the nineteenth century the first public libraries arose. In a public library you pay contribution per month, per quarter or per year and in return you can borrow books, DVD’s, CD’s and games. In 2010 there were 1.080 establishments who are member of the union public libraries Netherlands. (Kerngetallen bibliotheek, n.d). This decreased with 45 establishments to 1035 members of the union public libraries Netherlands. In 2013 the government announced a cutback of ‘200 million in the arts and culture sector (Kunst- en cultuurbeleid, n.d.). Since the public libraries are part of the culture sector, the accessibility of books and other services of the libraries comes at stake.
Therefore the objective is to analyse if the cutbacks in the arts and culture sector have affected the public libraries in terms of employment, members and funding to determine the effects of the cutbacks. To find the answer on the objective of this report, the following research questions are answered:
Problem statement:
How is the accessibility of public libraries in the Netherlands influenced due to the cutbacks?
1. How much was the cutback in subsidies for public libraries?
2. How did the cutbacks affected the amount of establishments, employment, extra activities and digitalisation?
3. What effects does the consumer notice directly?
2. Theoretical framework
‘A library is a place that is a repository of information and gives every citizen equal access to it. That includes health information. And mental health information. It’s a community space. It’s a place of safety, a haven from the world. It’s a place with librarians in it’.
(Gaiman, 2013)
Just as the quote says, the library is a place for everyone. Students can study there, people can access internet, rent books, do research, visit lectures or exhibitions. In short, the library offers many services. The libraries try to make the guests feel at home and it works, people still like to come to the library. Despite that people still like to visit the library, some establishments are forced to close due to cutbacks. In 2010 the municipal subsidy for libraries was ‘457.800.000, within four years this has decreased with 19 million euros to ‘438.400.000 of municipal funding in 2013. (Bedrijfsvoering, 2015).
Since you don’t have to be a member of a library to use their services, they are reliable of the subsidy from the government and/or municipality. The above mentioned cutbacks have led to a decreasing amount of library facilities. In 2013 there were 1872 establishments and in 2015 there were 1673 left. (bibliotheken, 2015)
Albert Einstein once said ‘if you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales’. He understood the benefits of reading, especially at a young age. As mentioned in the introduction recreational reading has different benefits. The Dutch government is aware of these benefits and is working on different programs to stimulated reading. One of those projects is ‘bibliotheek op de basisschool’. With this project the government wants libraries to open there doors in school buildings, so children have easy access to books. (The Dutch government, 2015).
Nevertheless, participating in this program costs libraries money. With the cutback within arts and culture, different libraries can’t pay this. Charles Noordam (2015), director of the seven libraries located in Den Haag, the Netherlands, states that if they wanted to participate in this project at least one library had to close down. They decided not to participate which means they don’t offer the additional services of the project (workshop for teacher, extra help for children with a reading disorder).
In addition, digitalisation is all around us. Everything needs to be done as quickly as possible and when we want it. Children in primary school are using tablets, students are using computers and even adults are using laptops for their work. The libraries have to invest in e-books, computers and online services if they want to stay open. This will be detrimental to the paper books and the library as a meeting place. (Siob, 2014).
3. Methodology
In order to find the answers on the research questions, different studies will be counselled. Next to that, an interview is conducted to support the findings. In this chapter the different sources and the interview method will be explained.
Literature research.
To understand the importance of reading and the contribution to that of the public libraries, a literature study was needed. During this stage of the research, the galaxy stress research of Dr. David Lewis (2006) and Bookworms versus nerds by Mar, R., Oatley, K., Hirsh, J., dela Pas, J., & Peterson, J. (2006) came up. Both researches were really helpful to understand the power of reading.
Secondly, the data on CBS.nl was studied. CBS stand for Central Bureau of Statics and has information about different topics concerning the Netherlands. It helped a lot to with answers for this report. In addition different studies on the effects of the cutbacks such as Siob (2014), Gaiman (2013) and facts and figures from the VOB (vereniging openbare bibliotheken) were used to construct this report.
The interview.
To be able to find additional information on the second and third research questions an interview will be held with a librarian in Groningen. In consideration of getting as much information about the topic as possible, the interview will be semi-structured. This because the characteristics of this interview are:
‘ ‘Formal.
‘ Lists with topics that need to be covered.
‘ Interviewee has the opportunity to divide from the subject’. (Cohen and Crabtree, 2008).
This type of interview is chosen because there is no second chance. Since the interviewee has the opportunity to divide from the subject, extra information can be gained. The librarian has planned one hour for the interview, which gives enough time to discuss details of certain topics. During the interview the following questions will be asked:
‘ What are your daily tasks’? How many people work in this library? Did anyone got fired because of cutbacks’? How many active and non-active members do you have registered? And five years ago’? Are there any services cancelled because there was no money for it’? Is this library involved in any projects of the municipality or the government? Yes, which ones’? Do you organise extra activities? What kind? How many times a month? How many participants’? Are there things you want to do, such as in terms of digitalisation, but you can’t’? Do you have anything else to add relevant to the topic?
4. Results
According to the information on CBS (2015) public libraries received a total of 409.000.000 euros in subsidise from the government in 2006. This increased with 50.000.000 euros in 2013. This increase in subsidise can be explained by looking at the library policy of the Dutch government. The increase was needed to make sure a new law would pass, the law for public libraries. This new law ensures are able to execute their tasks physically and digitally. The tasks of the public libraries are:
* giving the public access to knowledge and information.
* meeting place and place for debate.
* introducing the public to art and culture. (Rijksoverheid, 2015).
To give libraries the opportunity to create a digital environment for this tasks, extra money was needed. The Royal Library in the Netherlands is assigned to make this happen. Which means most of the money didn’t reach the public libraries itself. On the other hand, one part of the new law is created to protect the public libraries. Due to this law, public libraries cannot just close. If they want to close, they need to make agreements with the closest library about transferring their members.
Besides that, locals can now create a plan to continue the library by themselves.
The public libraries are subsidised directly by the municipality instead of the government. In 2006 municipalities have spent 14.100.000 euros to subsidies for the public libraries. In 2013 they spent only 8.500.000 euros, a decrease of 41%. In addition, the additional funding’s and contributions declined with 60% from 4.900.000 euros in 2006 to 2.600.0000 euros 2013. (CBS, 2015).
In total the libraries received 460.600.000 euros in 2013 on subsidies. While the total charges were 534.500.000 euros. Which leaves them with a gap of 73.900.000 euros. Currently there are 160 public libraries left, who according to the calculation above each have a negative gap of 461.875. According to CBS (2015) the income of member contribution is 72.900 euros for 2013. That means that 388.975 still needs to be covered. Public libraries have the opportunity to do this by means of sponsors.
The cutbacks didn’t affected the digitalisation within the libraries, as mentioned above the libraries are working on a digital environment for their members which is funded by the government. The public libraries already offer free e-books if they are three years or older to their members. If they want access to the newest e-books, they have to pay an extra contribution.
The cutbacks did had an influence on the employment. While there were 9010 jobs in 2006, of which 970 fulltime and 8030 part-time, there were only 6695 jobs left in 2013, 727 fulltime and 5968 part-time. (CBS, 2015). According to the information obtained by the interview, there were 3 employees fired at my local library over the years. In 2010 there were 10 people working there, 4 full-timers and 6 part-timers. Nowadays there are 2 full-timers and 5 part-timers.
In addition, due to the cutback they weren’t able to participate in the program ‘bibliotheek op de basisschool’, they due participated in other programs such as reading for babies, book at home for people who can’t go to the library and help for reading disabilities.
For the extra activities the cutbacks did had an impact. Before the cutbacks were announced, the library in the city centre of Groningen organised at least four times a year a theme week with workshops, courses related to the theme and lectures. Due to the cutbacks they can’t do this anymore. Since the library started a cooperation with Groninger Forum, they are still able to organise this twice a year.
The members of the libraries in Groningen won’t notice the effects of the cutbacks directly, since most of it hits the libraries behind the scenes. On the long term the consumer can notice the effects, some libraries will limited their opening hours, two libraries in Groningen already limited their opening hours in connection to school hours. Which means that they are only opened from 8 o’clock in the morning till 3 o ‘clock midday. Services such as a customer service will be digitalised or changed into self-service which can lead to problems for elderly who are not used to using computers and technology.
If you look at the effects on the accessibility to libraries, you can see that the government tries to give it priority but they will focus on digitalization of the libraries more than the actual establishments. In bigger cities such as Zwolle, Leeuwarden and Utrecht libraries as we now know it will keep on existing but in small towns, libraries will close more and more. According to CBS (2015) data, in the last decade over 300 public libraries closed their doors. For the members of these libraries it means that they have to travel to another town to lend books, cd’s or Dvd’s. The bigger cities are not completely unscathed. In different cities libraries will choose for one main establishment and close the smaller ones or they move the smaller ones into other buildings such as school, community centres and care homes.
5. Conclusion
Although the government aims for better accessibility to reading and thereby libraries, there will be major changes within the libraries. Libraries will focus on promotion of literacy and their function as source of information. Other services such as place for debate and the extra activities some libraries are organization will be negatively affected by this. In some places the extra activities will be cut completely and in other places they try to still make them happen by external funding.
External funding will play a big role in the future of public libraries, the municipality gives what they think a library needs. This is not even enough to pay all the expenses such as rent of the building, purchase and gas and electricity. Only with help of external funding and/or cooperation’s with other organizations libraries are able to operate at full extent.
Furthermore, the actual experience of visiting a library will become harder to achieve since different establishment will have to close their door. On the other hand, due to the digitalization of the libraries it will become easier to rent e-books or find information online. On the other side of the digitalization is the decrease in job opportunities. Since the work can be done faster and easier online, less employees are needed.
All in all, the consumer will notice some changes in the organization of the libraries but most of the effects will be behind the scene and the consumer will only read about it.