Full or Plural Funding
A Debate between Tom Hennen and Steve Coffman
Public Library Association Conference March 24^, 2006

Participants in the Hennen/Coffman debate will hear both sides of a controversial debate on the future direction of public libraries. They will also know how to pursue a plural funding strategy as opposed to a full funding strategy and how to choose the best course. For further discussion see the Full or Plural Funding Blog at http://fullorpluralfundingatpla.blogspot.com/

In the February 2004 issue of American Libraries, Steve Coffman published "Saving Ourselves: Plural Funding for Public Libraries."   He urged public libraries to follow the lead of public radio and museums into “plural funding.”  Tom Hennen responded with Restore Our Destiny: Full not Plural Funding," in American Libraries, August 2004; Pages 43-45. 

• Coffman wants us to take a step backwards in time and fund libraries on the plural funding model that was forced on National Public Radio when tax support was withdrawn. 
   

• Hennen believes libraries are, and should continue to be, tax-supported public goods.  He chooses full funding rather than plural funding. 

 In his article, Coffman notes that “in the last 20 years public radio was forced to diversify its funding base away from tax support and towards private fund raising.”  He makes the tar pit of fund raising and value prostitution into which public radio and television have been thrown sound like a desired destination!  Says Coffman in the February issue of American Libraries: “Libraries too should consider plural funding strategies. Rather than wasting energies on ill-conceived Campaigns to Save America's Libraries and similar efforts that try to convince governments to give us tax monies they do not have, we should focus on developing new funding models and strategies to help save ourselves.”

Hennen responded: “In effect Coffman argues that the current budget crisis for states and local government has fundamentally altered the way public libraries should be funded and that they must look to a new paradigm, the NPR model of plural funding.  I disagree, and the data show that most Americans disagree as well.  As I noted in “Performing Triage on Library Budgets in the Red,” (American Libraries.  March 2003, pg. 36+), we have weathered the Great Depression and World War II; we can get through this recession without radically changing the game plan. There are other tax support activities that ALA should support beyond the Campaign for America’s Libraries.” 

In 1833 the town of Peterborough Public Library in New Hampshire cast aside Ben Franklin's subscription library model and chose to support the library with tax money. The march of history has chosen the tax supported library ever since.  Nearly all public libraries in America today use the tax support model rather than the earlier subscription model.  Yet Coffman would have us go back in history to an earlier model that he calls "plural funding."   Hennen wants us to stay the course with basic tax-supported public library service. 

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Thomas J. Hennen Jr. has been a practicing librarian for 30 years.  He is presently the Director of Waukesha County Federated Library System in Wisconsin.  He previously directed library systems elsewhere in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Library periodicals such as Library Journal, American Libraries, and the Australian Library and Information Science Journal have published over 40 of his articles on topics ranging from children’s literature to rural library service to library futures, standards, and accounting.   Hennen has addressed professional library associations in 15 U.S. states and in several Canadian Provinces during his career. 

In 2004 Neal-Schuman published his book, Hennen's Public Library Planner: A Manual and Interactive CD-ROM.  It has received rave reviews and is being used by many libraries across the country to plan for a better future.

The "Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings" (HAPLR) have gained media notice in hundreds of communities since their first publication in American Libraries magazine in January of 1999.  The series of articles proved so popular that American Libraries took the unusual step of posting them in their entirety on their web site.  The HAPLR system uses data provided by 9,000 public libraries in the United States to create comparative rankings. The comparisons are in broad population categories. HAPLR provides a comparative rating system that librarians, trustees and the public can use to improve and extend library services.

Waukesha County Federated Library System, of which the consultant is the director, has won five National Association of Counties Achievement Awards in the last two years. These awards were for innovative programs and long range planning efforts.  The consultant has the skills to identify cutting edge needs as well as the experience to balance those needs with political and economic realities. 

See also:  haplr-index.com

Steve Coffman is LSSI's Vice President for Business Development Steve oversees the design of new library products and services. His current focus is developing new library funding and operating models. Steve also pioneered the virtual reference 'movement' and, with LSSI, helped thousands of libraries around the world move their reference services to the Web. Steve wrote Going Live! Starting and Running a Virtual Reference Service, available from ALA Editions.

Prior to joining the LSSI team, Steve spent 15 years at the County of Los Angeles Public Library where he was the Director of FYI, the County's Business Research Service.

Steve regularly contributes articles to library journals, including: "What If You Ran Your Library Like a Bookstore?," "Building Earth's Largest Library," "Reference As Others Do It," "And Now a Word from Our Sponsor," "The Librarian and Mr. Jeeves," "Distance Education and Virtual Reference: Where Are We Headed," "Resolved: Reference Librarians Are Toast," "What's Wrong with Collaborative Digital Reference," "Changing Public Library Funding," (May 2003 issue of American City and County) and "Saving Ourselves: Plural Funding for Public Libraries" (February 2004 issue of American Libraries).

Steve has his MLS from UCLA.

See also: http://www.lssi.com    

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