Kay Schwartz named library director during troubled times

The Flint Public Library's new director, Kay Schwartz, is taking the job at a time of great hardship for the library.

"Since 2008 the environment around us has changed rapidly. We are very short on revenue because of the decline in Flint property values. We knew at best tax revenue would be flat, but no one knew it would be a 20 percent loss. It's an automatic mechanism — it's not that tax payers want to keep money from us," Schwartz said.

The millage that passed this year will not be collected until 2012.

For the interim, the library is reducing its hours, starting Jan. 31 — two days a week at the branches and a shift from 66 hours a week to 55 at the main library. The main library will be open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Schwartz said the new schedule was chosen to make sure there was adequate staffing to provide services.

"We will not be making any irreversible decisions between now and then. We're going to use this 18-month interim for strategic planning to determine the shape of the library, particularly hours and services."

As the library makes long-term plans, Schwartz said the building itself demands attention.

"It's more than 50 years old. It was built at a time Flint Public Library provided book cataloging services and purchasing for Flint Public Schools and libraries across three counties. The layout was designed for a different purpose and so now the space is used inefficiently. Once there were 40 to 50 staff members working downstairs — now there are seven."

"The library's facade is shabby," Schwartz said. "It does not reflect the level of service and support from the community that this library has. It needs more than a facelift. It needs an upgrade."

Tentative renovation plans include more small meeting spaces and one-on-one tutoring space.

"The redesigned interior would provide for more computing and teaching," Schwartz added.

As Flint continues to suffer from unemployment and population loss, Schwartz said the library is "actively helping people with reading and computer technology skills to help them enter the job market."

For many people coming from careers in manufacturing, she said, filling out online applications and navigating through job search sites can be daunting. Librarians are available to assist people going through this process.

As Schwartz gathered information for the millage, she found that a third of Flint library cardholders are 17 and younger and another third are between 18 and 35.

"That means a lot of young parents are using the library to help children with literacy and school work. Those children will someday bring their children to the library. That will be of great importance in the future."

Cardholders also reflect Flint's growing student population, coming to study and access the free Wi-Fi.

The library will be expanding its collection of e-books in 2011.

"All those people getting e-book readers for Christmas need to come to our digital download library," she said.

She said e-books are an efficient way to get books into readers' hands.

"The internet is the best thing to happen to libraries," Schwartz said, explaining that it enables librarians to connect patrons to information quickly and efficiently. The library requires anyone wanting to use the computers to hold a library card.

"There are quite a few cardholders who have never checked out a book," she said.

"The library is a great place to be," Schwartz said, "Whether with a book or a computer."

Schwartz is not a new face at the library. She served as the interim director and as a "scibrarian" since 1998. Schwartz was hired in 1998 after completing a master's degree in library science at UM-Ann Arbor.

Schwartz said she was "drawn to librarianship" by the internet and the possibilities of digital information. In 2004 she became manager of automated systems and technology services, overseeing the library's computers, technical operations and book buying and cataloging — "all it takes to make a book or CD appear on the shelf," she explained.

Schwartz was appointed director Dec. 2 after the library conducted a fruitless national search.

"Our search firm told us Flint is a hard sell," Schwartz explained. "People outside often have an image of Flint that's superficial and negative. And if we can't get people here to prove otherwise it's hard to dispel the stereotypes."

However, she added, there is an advantage in hiring from within and having someone who understands the Flint area.

The Flint Public Library will be celebrating its 160th anniversary in March.

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