[Special Feature: Thinking About Public Libraries] How to Treat Libraries with Care

I want local governments to treat libraries with more care. This is something I, having made local autonomy my life's work, have always hoped for.

Treating them with care means enriching library budgets, increasing library staff—especially the placement of librarians—and improving their working conditions. It also means not easily outsourcing library management or turning libraries into mere tools for creating local buzz.

In reality, however, there are many local governments where library budgets and systems are meager. Furthermore, in recent years, the number of local governments outsourcing library management has increased significantly. In some cases, libraries are provided as venues for creating buzz, and one can even find examples of facilities that have transformed to the point where one hesitates to call them libraries anymore. I find this to be a pitiful situation.

One reason I have a strong interest in libraries is that most libraries in Japan are established by local governments. Not only public libraries, but also school libraries in public schools and assembly libraries in local assemblies are all established and operated by local governments.

Another reason is that I believe libraries hold very important significance and roles for the present and future of a region. There are various views regarding the role or mission of public libraries. While experts in library and information science might disagree, I believe one of the important roles of a public library is to support the intellectual activities of all people.

Libraries are often called hubs for lifelong learning. This expression is by no means wrong. However, "lifelong learning" often gives the impression of targeting only elderly people with plenty of time. From this, the view arises that a library is just a free book rental shop for people with too much time on their hands.

However, that view is incorrect. Every person has their own field of intellectual activity. Many people need to acquire knowledge and information for their work. If that person works for a corporation, an environment satisfying those needs might be available internally, but it might not be. In such cases, the library becomes the starting point for reaching that knowledge and information. If the person works for a small business that cannot afford such an environment, or is a freelancer working individually, the role of the library should be even greater.

It is not just about work. For example, there are many people with intellectual desires in their private lives, such as those seeking knowledge for hobbies, those researching health or illness for themselves or their families, or those who want to know about their destination before traveling. For these people, the library's vast collection of books and materials, as well as its librarians, can be extremely useful. I should add that reading by elderly people with time is also a fine intellectual activity, and libraries naturally support their activities as well.

Changing perspective to discuss the importance of libraries from the experience of managing local administration, various fields of local administration can provide higher quality services to citizens by collaborating with libraries. Entrepreneurship support, which has already begun in several libraries, is one example, but it is expected that various other measures, such as providing information to minorities, will be materialized in other fields in the future.

Furthermore, libraries also function to pass on information and materials regarding regional history and culture to future generations. In local governments without museums, libraries must collect and preserve local records, ancient documents, old maps, and photographs for the use of current and future citizens. Similarly, in local governments without public archives, libraries should preserve valuable materials and information unique to that region, such as important public records and local election results.

Despite libraries having such important functions and roles, why do many local governments fail to treat them with care? One undeniable reason is that the people at the center of policy formation, such as heads of local governments and assembly members, are not well-versed in libraries and do not fully recognize their importance. In fact, based on my experience, my actual feeling is that there are only a handful of local government heads who have a deep knowledge of libraries.

However, even if the head's recognition is insufficient, if the system of local autonomy is functioning properly in that local government, there is room for forces to work to compensate for that lack of recognition and for appropriate measures to be launched. Furthermore, even if a situation arises where a head tries to treat a library poorly, a healthy local autonomy system can prevent it in advance.

From this, it can be inferred from cases where libraries are not valued and are instead treated carelessly that the local autonomy system is not operating smoothly in those municipalities. This means that for local governments to value libraries more, it is essential to make the local autonomy system operate properly; it also means that if the system operates healthily, there is potential for libraries to be much more enriched than they are now.

I would like to discuss the relationship between the state of libraries and the local autonomy system using an actual case. A few years ago, it was discovered that the book purchase budget for a certain prefecture's library had been cut by 30% all at once. For residents with a deep interest in libraries, it was a bolt from the blue; they were shocked, appalled, and angry, but by the time they learned of the massive reduction, the prefectural budget had already been passed, so it was too late.

Around that time, a library convention was held in that prefecture, and I was in attendance. The angry residents mentioned earlier were also participating, and the governor was attending as a guest. Naturally, some people confronted the governor on the spot, asking, "Why did you cut the book purchase budget by 30%?" The governor apparently did not know about the budget cut and was surprised to hear it. Since I knew the governor's character well, I could see that the surprise was not an act.

How should we interpret the fact that the governor did not know? Based on my experience, I don't think we can simply criticize the governor for this. Prefectural budgets are enormous, and expenditure items are diverse. It is an extremely difficult task to keep all of them in one's head.

On the other hand, if the governor had been extremely enthusiastic about libraries, they would at least have known about the massive budget cut, and I think the cut itself might not have happened in the first place. A governor enthusiastic about libraries would have asked, "What is happening with the library budget?" at the final stage of budget compilation, and even if they hadn't asked, subordinates would have explained the policy for the library budget. This is because they would know they would be reprimanded later if they cut it without telling the governor. In any case, the massive reduction policy would surely have been forced into withdrawal at that point.

Even so, why was a budget proposal to drastically reduce book purchase costs created in the first place? Usually, these things are handled administratively. In this case, an agreement to cut the budget must have been formed between the secretariat of the prefectural Curriculum Advisory Committee and the prefectural financial authorities.

The mindset of financial authorities wanting to cut budgets for everything is understandable, regardless of the merits of individual issues. The problem lies with the Curriculum Advisory Committee. Since the Curriculum Advisory Committee oversees libraries and is responsible for their operation, one would think they wouldn't easily agree even if pressured by financial authorities to cut book purchase costs. While that assumption isn't wrong as a general rule, the Curriculum Advisory Committee can sometimes sacrifice libraries when pushed into a corner.

Many local governments still adopt the so-called "ceiling system" for budget compilation. Under this system, a cap is placed on the budget requests of each department, including the Curriculum Advisory Committee, such as "keeping it below the previous year's level." In such a case, if there is a situation where a new project must be launched in school education costs, the ceiling cannot be met unless an equivalent amount is cut from other items within the Curriculum Advisory Committee budget.

When faced with such circumstances, it is quite conceivable to cut library expenses to balance the books for increasing school education costs, and it is likely that such a situation existed in the prefecture mentioned here. In this case, it cannot necessarily be said that the Curriculum Advisory Committee disregards libraries, but it is certain that they sacrificed the library for other expenses.

One thing that can be said here is that the budget compilation mechanism of local governments has become rigid. Originally, budget compilation should be flexible. Budgets should be allocated to what is necessary, and the required funds should be generated by cutting unnecessary projects. This kind of prioritized budget compilation policy should apply across the entire local government budget.

However, in local governments that adopt a ceiling system, this prioritization must be done within, for example, the Curriculum Advisory Committee alone, leading to situations where library costs are sacrificed for school education costs. This means that the very important field of local government budget compilation has significantly lost flexibility, and the financial management function of the local government is not operating healthily. To treat libraries with care, it is necessary to improve things starting from such areas.

Returning to the perception of local government heads regarding libraries. Is it impossible to prevent heads from disregarding libraries or the Curriculum Advisory Committee and financial authorities from sacrificing libraries for other things? If you wonder if we just have to give up and accept it as inevitable, that is absolutely not the case. If the ideals and healthy systems of local autonomy operate, it is entirely possible to prevent or avoid such situations.

What plays a major role here is the thoroughness of transparency—specifically, information disclosure in the budget compilation process. Currently, budget compilation work in most local governments is conducted behind closed doors, so citizens have no opportunity to access the work from the outside or know its progress.

Using the prefecture I mentioned earlier as an example, suppose someone who is deeply concerned about the library asks the local financial authorities before the budget proposal is announced, "Please tell me what will happen to the library book purchase budget in next year's budget." The staff member at the prefectural office would surely have answered, "It is currently under consideration, so I cannot answer."

When asked, "Then when can you tell me?" they would have replied, "We will announce the budget proposal eventually, so you will know when you see it." When checking the budget proposal announced later, one is shocked to find that the book purchase budget has been drastically reduced. If they then contact the prefectural office again and plead, "This will make the library meager, so please return the budget to last year's level," the staff would coldly state, "The budget proposal has already been announced, so it can no longer be changed."

What on earth is going on? Until just the other day, they were refused because it was "still under consideration," and as soon as the announcement is made, they are told it "cannot be changed because it is already decided." Can we really call this a local government of a democratic nation or citizens of a democratic nation?

In Tottori Prefecture, where I served as governor, the previous budget compilation was similar. When I ran for the governorship, I campaigned for "transparency in prefectural administration" and "thorough information disclosure," but with the prefectural budget compilation in such a state, it could hardly be called transparent administration.

Therefore, I decided to boldly change the budget compilation mechanism. First, I decided to publish the contents of the budget request forms submitted by each department, including the Curriculum Advisory Committee, to the financial authorities on the prefecture's website. I decided to publish everything on the website at each stage: the assessment results after the financial authorities examined the requests, the results of the Administrative Affairs Office Director's assessment following subsequent negotiations, and the Governor's assessment results based on further negotiations. What does this mean? Explaining with the previous example of the massive reduction, if a budget request form reducing library book purchase costs had been submitted by the Curriculum Advisory Committee, that fact would have been revealed at that point. This is because residents interested in libraries would surely access the prefecture's website to find out what the library-related budget requests look like.

Consequently, the situation where residents were blindsided by the fact of the reduction after the budget was decided could have been avoided. Among those residents, some would have taken necessary actions, such as protesting to the Curriculum Advisory Committee or appealing to the Governor. The media would also surely report on it. In response, regardless of the Curriculum Advisory Committee's request, there is a high possibility that the book purchase budget would have been restored to the previous year's level by the time the Governor's assessment was completed.

It is very important for democratic politics that many people know what is progressing inside the local government, such as budget compilation work. If only those inside the local government are informed of what is being done and the essential residents are left out of the loop, there is a high risk of falling into arbitrary decisions by the local government. Discrepancies and waste can run rampant there. We should recognize that transparency through information disclosure is an important condition for keeping local government operations healthy, including treating libraries with care.

Finally, the most important element in making the local government system operate healthily is the assembly. Just as the Diet is the highest organ of state power, the assembly is the highest decision-making organ of a local government. Regarding the budget, while the proposal is compiled under the head, once it is submitted to the assembly, it is up to the assembly's judgment whether to pass it as is or to make necessary amendments.

Therefore, even if the budget proposal contains a reduction in library book purchase costs, it is possible for the assembly to restore it to the previous year's level. Of course, since this requires some financial resources, the assembly must find them. The method of finding them is also the assembly's judgment, but the simplest way is to eliminate expenses deemed wasteful from the entire budget proposal and allocate them to restoring the library book purchase budget. While there may not be many expenses that can be definitively called wasteful, one should be able to find expenses everywhere that are inferior to library expenses in terms of importance. In the process of making such priority judgments, the assembly's recognition and insight regarding libraries will be tested.

In some cases, the assembly may judge that no waste can be found in the budget proposal and that all expenses are equally important and hard to cut. In such a case, to procure the financial resources for restoring library expenses, they could even choose to increase taxes accordingly. If the target is a municipality, it would be resident tax or fixed asset tax, as the authority to determine these tax rates also belongs to the assembly.

In reality, the operation of most local assemblies is far from such a process, and the reality is that they pass budget proposals submitted by the head without any changes. Considering that the assembly of the prefecture that drastically reduced library book purchase costs also passed the budget proposal without changes, and the reduction was not even discussed in the process, to speak frankly at the risk of being rude, I suspect they did not properly deliberate on the contents of the budget proposal. Conversely, if the assembly had conducted budget deliberations properly, there is a high possibility that the massive reduction in library expenses could have been avoided. Above, using the library expense reduction incident as a subject, I have discussed why it happened and which parts of the current local autonomy system could prevent such things if they operated appropriately. I would be most gratified if this serves as a reference for those who wish for libraries to be treated with care.