City budget requests illustrate that different tools serve different purposes when it comes to delivering information.

It’s an information age, but there is more than one way to deliver information, as illustrated by two contrasting budget requests received this week by the Lawrence City Commission.

Local residents who responded to a survey that was mailed with water bills earlier this year want more information they can access from home computers, according to Ron Hall, the city’s information services director. Hall recommended a variety of services, from utility-bill payment to city commission agendas that could be placed online for easier access.

But many residents also want to be able to seek information and entertainment from books, Bruce Flanders, director of the Lawrence Public Library, told commissioners. Flanders also cited a 2001 survey of library patrons that “revealed significant unhappiness regarding the quality and extent of our adult library collections.” To address that concern, Flanders is seeking an $89,000 increase in his books budget for 2003.

Both requests have merit. They also offer an interesting perspective on how different media can better serve different communication needs.

The need to convey up-to-date information and service from city offices is a perfect fit for computer technology. Hall recommended setting up systems to allow residents to pay utility bills, enroll in recreation classes and apply for city jobs over the Internet. It also was suggested the entire city commission agenda could be posted online, as could various maps and building permit and inspection status updates.

These online services could save money for the city in terms of staff time as well as provide more access to city government. Giving residents access to all the detailed supporting information that city commissioners see before they make a decision and providing maps and building permit updates serve to make City Hall more “user-friendly,” which has been a concern of the current commission. Some of the expense of setting up these services might be eliminated by hiring outside contractors, as the city currently does with utility billing, or partnering with other entities willing to post information like the detailed city agenda.

Of course, people who don’t have a home computer can always access the city information through a computer at the Lawrence Public Library. But access to the Internet isn’t the main reason most people go to the library. The Internet is a great vehicle to use for research or immediate information, but it isn’t such a great place to find classic writing or the latest works of fiction.

For those, the medium of choice is books, and that’s where Flanders believes the Lawrence library is falling behind. The 2001 survey particularly noted deficiencies in adult fiction and audiobook collections. Lawrence supports a number of bookstores, but not everyone wants or can afford to shell out the money to buy every new book they want to read. To serve that population, the library needs money to constantly add to its book collections. Making audiobooks available at no charge also is a great service for people who listen while driving or have vision problems that make it difficult to read.

City commissioners must consider and balance many budget priorities, and it’s difficult to judge whether money will be available either for more online services or more library books. It’s interesting to note, however, that even in this computer age, it takes more than one form of communication to adequately fill the public’s information needs.