Linda Slimmer explored the shelves of the Lawrence Public Library Thursday afternoon, searching — but not finding — a book on weightlifting for women.

So she wasn’t surprised to learn the library doesn’t meet Northeast Kansas Library System standards for spending on books and other materials.

“It does seem a little bit limited, but you can’t have everything,” Slimmer said of the library’s collection.

The agency gave Lawrence a rare waiver this year, but says it probably will reduce its $59,000 annual grant to the library if there isn’t improvement.

“We have libraries in communities of less than 500 people that have trouble meeting the basic requirements,” said Patti Butcher, library development coordinator for the Lawrence-based Northeast Kansas Library System. “Other than that, we’re fairly strict. And in any case, we only grant a waiver for a year.”

Bruce Flanders, the library’s executive director, said a recent national ranking showed Lawrence was in the top 20 percent of libraries for communities this size.

And use of the library is soaring. Flanders predicted a circulation of 750,000 items for 2002, a 12 percent increase from 2001.

But the shortfall in spending on the library’s collection is troubling, Flanders said. The rating agency’s standards, he said, were something “any competent librarian would treat as a minimum criteria.”

David Smith, Lawrence, orients himself by reading the call numbers at the head of the aisle while searching for video documentaries at the Lawrence Public Library. Despite meeting national service standards, the library is falling short of some standards set by the Northeast Kansas Library System. Smith searched through the library's stacks on Wednesday.

“It’s going to take money,” Flanders said.

Lawrence ranked 91 out of 523 libraries serving populations of 50,000 to 100,000 in the recent Hennen’s American Public Library Rating Index. The city’s score of 693 — based on spending, circulation, visits by the public and more — was higher than the state average score of 627. Kansas ranked eighth overall in the survey of library quality.

But Lawrence’s score was lower than 65 other Kansas towns. The scores were weighted according to population. The tiny southeast Kansas town of Altamont, for example, with its correspondingly tiny library, received a score of 699.

When Flanders filled out a checklist of 52 requirements for aid by the Northeast Kansas Library System, he had to mark “no” to two questions. One stipulated that the library offer regular classes on computer applications and the Internet. The other required the library to spend at least 15 percent of its budget on books and other materials.

The $250,000 the library spends on books, Flanders said, makes up 13 percent of the library’s $1.89 million annual budget. The rest goes for salaries and building maintenance. The extra 2 percent, he said, would probably buy the library 2,000 additional books a year.

“These are things a library our size should be doing,” he said.

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Lawrence, home to two universities, ranks in studies as one of the most educated cities in the state and nation.

“We are a well-educated community that’s interested in lifelong learning,” Flanders said.

But the community is relatively stingy with its library. Of the 10 biggest cities in Kansas, only one spends less on libraries each year than Lawrence’s $19.90 per resident.

“This is one of the those service versus taxes questions,” Mayor Sue Hack said. “Are we willing to pay to keep the library where we want it to be, where it should be?”

That question will be answered when the city starts work on the 2004 budget this spring.

Andrew Brovont, 9, foreground, and his sister, Jessica, 7, read at the Lawrence Public Library, which is falling short of some standards set by the Northeast Kansas Library System. The Brovonts visited the library Wednesday.