In August 2026, Library staff provided Olmsted County leadership with a proposal for Payment for Services totaling $129,797 in an effort to maintain library services. Without this funding, RPL would have to reduce services for rural county residents.

Potential impacts if Payment for Services is not approved:

Costs for libraries continue to rise. Without funding to support Bookmobile services to rural Olmsted County residents and digital materials access, the following adjustments to services will happen in 2027:

Bookmobile service to Byron, Dover-Eyota, and Oronoco will end

• In the last year, 66% of the visitors to these stops came from rural Olmsted County
• In general, 24% of Bookmobile circulation comes from rural Olmsted County residents

Access to digital content will be reduced

• In 2025, rural county residents borrowed 64,090 titles from Overdrive/Libby. If those were individually purchased, it would cost an estimated $833,170*.

• Since the start of 2026, RPL has offered Kanopy streaming video. Through July 31, 487 titles have been borrowed by rural county residents. If those were individually purchased, they would cost an estimated $1,948*.

Request Reflects Usage

The Payment for Services request is based entirely on actual usage by rural Olmsted County residents

• 24% of Bookmobile usage comes from rural Olmsted County residents
• 9.8% of Overdrive/digital circulation comes from rural Olmsted County residents, which increases to 12% when adding circulation from residents of Pine Island, Stewartville, Chatfield, and St. Charles

Provide Feedback

Reach out to your county commissioner to provide feedback.

* Average cost of e-book for individuals is $13, according to a recent article from
the American Library Association: Leading Public Library Groups Call for E-book Action | ALA
* Estimated cost of streaming video is $4 per title, according to the
Library Value Calculator created by the Massachusetts Library Association