Local libraries could feel pinch
Clark County residents who enjoy one of their 10 public libraries should know that a decision to be made soon in neighboring Marathon County could impact their experience. It may behoove them to let their county board members know if they are concerned about it.
Last month, the Marathon County Public Library (MCPL) Board voted 4-3 in favor of pulling out of the Wisconsin Valley Library Service (WVLS) to join the South Central Library System. Now, that may sound like a whole lot of nothingness to some, but it could have significant impacts on Clark County’s small, community libraries. Clark County’s libraries, see, are also part of the WVLS, and if Marathon County leaves, it will take with it a bunch of resources and money. That can only mean tighter budgets and fewer or slower services for the libraries that remain in the WVLS.
Marathon County is an enigma in the WVLS, as it is the only county-wide library in the sevencounty system. The other six counties all have individual community libraries, each overseen by a local board. Marathon County, with Wausau, also has the highest population of the seven counties. As such, its financial influence is one the rest of the WVLS system counties can hardly due without.
The MCPL Board said in a statement after last month’s vote that moving to the new system would benefit its patrons in vastly expanding available resources, in part by connecting it with major libraries in Marshfield, Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids. The move would, the statement said, “allow MCPL to remain a premiere library not only in central Wisconsin, but across the entire state, and aid the library in offering high-quality, expert-level service at each of its nine locations across Marathon County.”
That’s all well and good, but it would leave the rest of the WVLS members in the lurch. For Abbotsford, Colby, Dorchester and others, that could mean access to fewer materials, longer waiting times to obtain inter-library loan items, and possibly the need for more local funding to maintain what services they already have.
The next step for MCPL is a March vote of the 38-member Marathon County Board of Supervisors. A two-thirds vote of that body is required to approve the switch, but if it happens, changes will come in Clark County.
Clark County residents won’t hold much sway over the vote to the east, but they can at least contact their Clark County supervisor and ask them to perhaps speak out against the move. We understand the MCPL Board is doing what it thinks is best for itself, but with no regard for the long-time partners they will leave in their dust.
Guest editorial by the TRG editorial board, consisting of publisher Kris O’Leary and editor Dean Lesar.
