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Old 05-03-2012, 03:24 PM   #41
wizwor
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VaporPunk View Post
OT to teachers + school librarians, increased utility bills, maintenance bills, etc... Would it be more cost-efficient to the taxpayer or less? After all the library is already open. Also, teachers spend more time working out of class then in class already.
You sound like the Director of Libraries in my small town. She does not actually shelve or sign out books -- she simply directs. Her son and nephew work at the library. Son is a librarian and nephew is computer support. Nepotism doesn't bother me, but keeping this two story building open for a small group of people (not counting people taking out movies) is, in my opinion, a waste of money.

My town has another library at the elementary school. If the poor and unemployed and underage need internet access, this single room could be left open longer hours. I'd even pay a couple student teachers to hang around in case kids wanted to drop by with their homework. We also have a library at the middle school which happens to be in the same building as the high school -- which has its own library.

96% of Americans (I know not everyone here is American, but I happen to beand this is from our last census) have a computer and 78% have internet access at home. Every public building in my small town has wireless internet access. I'd bet we could set up something at the food pantry.

Libraries were built when books were expensive to provide access to those seeking knowledge. The were not open 7x24 and they were not open to all people. Generally, they were neither public nor funded by taxes.

Public libraries do not provide complete and convenient access to the most needy. If you are too poor or too young to get to a public school, then maybe you are too poor or young to get to the public library.

Worse, with the arrival of the internet and the demand for entertainment, libraries are no longer the best place to do research -- limited publications and old encyclopedias are no match for the internet.

So, maybe we should put a half dozen computers in a town office with a camera link to the police dispatcher and see if the poor cannot get just as much or nearly as much out of that?

I would certainly be interested to know what % of library patrons are poor and/or do not have access to the internet. In my experience, the poor and unemployed have bigger problems that finding a good book to read.

In my opinion, the need for public libraries has passed.
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