Abstract
Although a public agency, many libraries seek additional resources beyond municipal taxes. This paper explores library funding and their reliance on philanthropic revenue to supplement public tax dollars. Data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services Survey are combined with financial information from library friends and foundation nonprofit organizations to understand the extent to which public libraries in Illinois are supported by philanthropic funds. A survey of library directors is used to provide additional context. The findings suggest a geographic disparity in finances among libraries in Illinois and the need for new theories to explain “donation over taxation.”
Highlights
Governments at all levels continue to face extraordinary financial challenges as the aftershocks of the Great Recession ripple through the contemporary public sector landscape
The median dollar value for federal revenue is $0 because only 28.1percent of all libraries receive federal support for their public library, whereas, 93percent of all libraries receive some kind of state support
The local community is a competitive environment for philanthropic dollars, making it challenging for public entities to solicit donations in a context that puts them in direct competition with other community nonprofit organizations who may receive no direct government support. This project resulted in the creation of a new dataset that was built by merging the Public Libraries Survey with financial data from Guidestar
Summary
Governments at all levels continue to face extraordinary financial challenges as the aftershocks of the Great Recession ripple through the contemporary public sector landscape. This has led some scholars to suggest that a “new fiscal ice age” has begun (Kiewiet & McCubbins, 2014). Public organizations have been threatened by huge cutbacks many times before, during the Great Depression. Governments encounter shrinking budgets, increasing demand for services, declining revenues, and costly infrastructure upkeep. Local governments have cultivated relationships with nonprofit organizations to help alleviate some of this strain, in the area of service provision (Considine, 2013; Meek & Thurmaier, 2012; Feiock & Jang, 2009; Milward & Provan, 2000; Smith & Lipsky, 1993). Receiving less attention is local governments’ use of nonprofit organizations to leverage revenue in the form of charitable gifts
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