[OPLINLIST] Zero balance

[Jennifer McKell]

I've been following this with interest too.  After the last downturn in
2001, I thought we'd come up with every weird little way to save money,
but we're still coming up with stuff.  We just added e-commerce so that
people have more and easier ways of paying fines and fees.  We're
selling reusable poly bags at cost now (like Wal-Mart and Krogers) with
our name imprinted, and no longer give away plastic bags.  We have been
providing headphones and wiping them down and re-using them, ever since
we got the last Gates Foundation computer grant, but pretty soon we will
start selling earbuds for a dollar and other than that people will have
to bring their own headphones.  We will have to get vendors' licenses
for all seven branches.
 
 To cut down on transportation costs, we float almost our entire
collection among our seven branches (wherever the item gets checked in
is its new home), do as much computer maintenance as possible remotely,
have remote network controls on all of our HVAC in the seven branches,
and consolidate most staff/committee meeting times to one morning of the
week where we have to have people traveling to a central branch. We
really need to start using a collection agency for overdues, but haven't
quite gotten there yet.  This summer we will have to cut back quite a
bit on performers for summer reading club-instead we are thinking of
doing several low-cost outdoor movie nights at our various branches, and
we think that might go over pretty well in our rural area.  Have fun on
a nickel, like they used to do in the Depression.  Saving money is my
new hobby-the librarian's equivalent of coupon-clipping. Also apply for
a bunch of grants.
 
Jennifer Thompson McKell
Chillicothe and Ross County Public Library
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