Usage of Princeton Public Library declines

Was it the bad weather or the loss of free garage parking arrangement?

By: Courtney Gross
   Patronage of the Princeton Public Library declined in February and March and the director has been asked to review whether higher parking fees are to blame.
   February 1 marked the termination of the two free hours of subsidized parking for library patrons in the Spring Street Garage.
   "We’re feeling it," said Katherine McGavern, president of the library’s board of trustees at a board meeting Tuesday.
   Some board members said the change should be attributed to the colder weather, but a majority of the board expressed concern that termination of the parking subsidy may be the real cause.
   As a result, the board asked for a report from Library Director Leslie Burger on the effects of the discontinued parking subsidy, to be delivered next month.
   For the month of February, the library’s door count was down 7 percent, with 58,522 in 2007 as opposed to nearly 63,000 in 2006. In January, those numbers were up 4 percent for 2007, with 69,323 this year and 66,711 in 2006.
   In March, those numbers continued to decline. Close to 72,000 people walked through the library’s doors last month, which was down 8 percent from the same month in 2006.
   However, requests to hold books for pickup, have increased 14 percent in the first quarter of 2007. Some trustees theorize that more patrons may be calling ahead to reserve books for pickup, so that they do not trigger charges for parking beyond 30 minutes in the Spring Street garage.
   In January, the borough and the township announced they were cutting off the payments for library patrons, claiming it was for financial reasons.
   Documents later obtained by The Packet revealed part of the service’s cancellation was a result of a failure of the township and the borough to agree on a shared financial arrangement, which included a proposal by the township in 2005 to purchase an interest in one level of the parking garage for library patrons.