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January 22, 1999 <br />Mr. Jim Chandler <br />County Administrator <br />1840 25th Street <br />Vero Beach, FL 32960 <br />Dear Mr. Chandler: <br />I should like to present a report on the Library to the County <br />Commissioners at an early meeting. <br />Woukd you kindly place my report on the agenda for the February 9, <br />1999 meeting or as soon thereafter as is convenient, and advise me accordingly. <br />Arnold Grobman, 855 Live Oak Lane, thanked the Board of County Commissioners <br />for having appointed him to the Library Advisory Board. He then reviewed the following <br />information which was in the backup for the meeting: <br />OBSERVATIONS <br />A. The Indian River County Library is one of the premier public libraries in <br />the State of Florida. It is very heavily used. it well serves a population that <br />is demographically similar to those of Martin and Collier Counties (1). <br />Available measures (2,3,4,5,6,7) indicate that it is comparable to, or <br />exceeds, the public libraries in Martin and Collier counties in usage. By <br />every measure it exceeds the State average for use of public libraries. <br />B. The physical facilities of the Indian River County Public Library appear <br />to be adequate (8,9) for an average public library in Florida. It is not clear, <br />however, whether those facilities are adequate for a premier library that is <br />among the most highly used public libraries, per capita, in the State. <br />C. The collections of the Indian River Public Library are above average <br />(10,16) but are bought at the expense (17) of low salary levels for its staff <br />(18,19,20,21,22). <br />D. While the per capita expenditures for salaries of the Indian River <br />County Library are similar to those of comparable libraries (13,14,15,19), <br />they are quite inadequate for a high -use quality public library (11). The <br />percent of the staff holding a Master of Library Science degree, for example <br />(12), is considerably below that of comparable libraries and of the State <br />average. That unfortunate situation is a reflection of the low salary scale. <br />E. The classification of personnel in the Indian River Public Library should <br />be reviewed along with the appropriate salary schedules. <br />FEBRUARY 9, 1999 <br />23 <br />ROOK 108 PAIGE296 <br />