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Testimony in support of Senate Bill 421
Entitled Libraries -- Funding -- Public Libraries and Regional Resource Centers
A Hearing before the Budget and Tax Committee
February 23, 2005

Mr. Chairman and Distinguished Senators:

Representing the Citizens for Maryland Libraries, I am speaking in support of Senate Bill 421, entitled Libraries -- Funding -- Public Libraries and Regional Resource Centers. Public libraries are an integral part of the community. Maryland Public Libraries are a major educational resource. They:

• Support lifelong learning, and
• They help children get ready to learn.

According to a major statewide study conducted recently by the nationally known pollster Potomac Incorporated:

• 90% of Marylanders say public libraries are a good use of public funds.
• 8 in 10 households have used their library within the last two months.
• Public libraries are major economic drivers in Maryland communities. 75% say a public library is an economic anchor that attracts business to the area and raises property values.

Maryland citizens love and use their libraries. Last year citizens made 26 million visits to public libraries in Maryland. That is 7 times more visits than the attendance at all Terps basketball games, Terps football games, Ravens games and Orioles games combined.

Maryland public libraries are struggling to meet this increased demand for service. The per capita funding increase outlined in HB 200 will help libraries continue to meet the growing service demands. Two new funding challenges that libraries face are:

1. Growing multiculturalism in Maryland, which increases demand for books and other materials in many languages, and
2. Growing variety of formats. While Maryland residents still love to read books, there is an increasing demand for materials in audiotape, compact disk, video, DVD and electronic formats.

Libraries in Maryland are good stewards of the funding they receive. They have a strong history of partnerships and resource sharing, which has resulted in efficient use of funding and effective use of library materials. Through shared electronic catalogs, citizens are able to go online to look at millions of material holdings in libraries throughout the State, and to electronically request that these materials be sent to their nearest library.

Citizens for Maryland Libraries urge you to support this bill and help your public libraries meet the educational, reading and research needs of Maryland's children, families, small business owners and others who use our public libraries by the thousands on a daily basis.

Respectfully submitted by,
Patricia Fisher
Board Member
Citizens for Maryland Libraries