Are you a know-it-all? The experts want your help. The White House is soliciting ideas from the public. The Minneapolis School District is asking parents to weigh in on the budget. The other day, I got a questionnaire from the U.S. Postal Service — I think they want me to tell them that I’m so busy with my email that the real mail doesn’t need to come every day. Now even our libraries are conceding that everyone’s an expert.

Click here to tell new Hennepin County Library Director Lois Langer Thompson how she can make the library run better with less money. "We are facing serious budget challenges at a time when the public is relying on the library to do more than ever. We want the public to weigh in."

Thompson started her new job on Feb. 17, although she has been acting as interim director since former director Amy Ryan left in the fall to take over as president of the Boston Public Library. In addition to continuing the merger between the Minneapolis and Hennepin County systems, Thompson faces tough decisions as Hennepin County shaves its already tight 2009 operating budget. The library is being asked to reduce its $73.8 million budget by $5 million, because of falling property tax revenue. About $59 million of the library's 2009 budget comes from property taxes.

"Everything is being challenged, how we do things, how we run our business. This is a public institution, and uses public tax dollars, so I think we should engage the community in the discussion," Thompson says. "The old model was, the librarian is the expert and tells the patrons what they need. Our culture has changed and the library has changed. We want a much more collaborative model with as many voices as possible involved."

Resistance expected if hours reduced
Thompson admits that the budget problems could impact library hours, and any reduction is bound to be met with resistance as the increasingly thrifty public comes to rely more on the library for entertainment, or job assistance. Sunday hours and programs like the Small Business Success programs are custom-made for recession times. But maybe you know how to stretch the library’s buck.

Of course, that comment button is likely to attract as many cranks as budget wizards, but Thompson is happy to explain the inner workings of the library to its patrons. For instance, why are there perfectly good library books at the library’s used-book sales? (Because they may contain outdated information or don’t see much checkout action.) When a patron donates a new book to the library, why doesn’t it end up on the shelf? (Because it actually costs the library more money to tag and enter an individual book than to buy books in bulk at discount and enter the multiples all at once.)

But here was my burning question: What is the new library director reading — and did she get to jump the line to get her copy of the book? No, power doesn’t come with privilege: When Thompson’s book club chose Greg Mortenson’s "Three Cups of Tea," she got in line like everyone else (the book is also Eden Prairie Reads' 2009 selection). "I’m right in there with everyone else. We pay our overdue fine and wait in line for books just like the other patrons."

RELATED CONTENT: Friends don't let libraries go broke, by Amy Goetzman, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2009