Library cuts deny children glorious addiction

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

It's so sad that school budgets keep getting cut. It's the same scenario here. And to think that education should be governments' top priority too...

I imagine it is getting pretty hard to be a teacher too. Yesterday, our new state governor announced that he is putting the schools into financial shutdown for the rest of the year. This happens far too often in Alabama. No new supplies will be ordered, and for the 4th year in a row, probably no cost of living raises for teachers. Thirty years ago when I was in high school and they first started doing this, we just brought our own toilet paper every day and sat by open windows to read and/or kill time until 3:00, since the electricity was shut off in my school. It could have been worse, because at least we are in a warm climate, so we didn't freeze without heat.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I wouldn't support this solution. I'd shut down all school libraries and make the kids go to a public library.

Or use Overdrive to check out books via the school computer. With the falling reader prices, it will soon be a viable option to equip the kids with readers instead of book textbooks.

[FF2]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

It's so sad that school budgets keep getting cut. It's the same scenario here. And to think that education should be governments' top priority too...

That is almost verbatim the wording the WA State Constitution - but, of course, funding lags. Repeated law suits have upheld the language the that has not necessarily helped. Oh, and the state fails to qualify for certain federal funding (don't recall the program's name) because we have voted against Charter Schools a couple of times.

[TallMomof2]

What about bookmobiles? When I was small there was only one library but there was the bookmobile. I think it came by every two weeks and what was neat was that you could request a book from the main library and when it was available it would show up on the bookmobile.

I now live in an affluent area. However, there are still plenty of families who wouldn't have books or music or movies or internet access if it wasn't for the library. The schools really can't substitute for the public library. Not open on the week-ends or school holidays. And my schools haven't been publicly funded for additional books for five years. Parents have to raise money to purchase books.

Income must not be a barrier to books.

[pietrocrazy]

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

That sounds fair to me. Why should someone who's never stepped foot in a library in their life have to pay (for example) $80/year in property taxes so you book addicts can get hundreds of free books a year?

While we're at it, let's also close down public schools. I don't have any kids, so why should my tax money go to support them?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by TallMomof2

Income must not be a barrier to books.

I agree. But in this day of tight budgets, I'd like to see smaller library branches shut down and those funds used to support larger regional libraries. Consolidation would better utilize dwindling tax dollars by providing better services.

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

The push toward private schools is just an attempt from right-wingers to allow religion into the classroom.

What a glorious quote...

[wyndslash]

This is so interesting. Our public education is not up to par and that's why private school here is so popular. However, to my knowledge, though our private schools are mostly religious, they don't really force you to believe in the same thing. And the tuition of private schools keep going up next year even though the quality of some schools is coming into question. There is a need for real public education here. Education shouldn't have to be a privilege.

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I agree. But in this day of tight budgets, I'd like to see smaller library branches shut down and those funds used to support larger regional libraries. Consolidation would better utilize dwindling tax dollars by providing better services.

That's pretty much what's happening in some cities. Philadelphia has done this and there was an uproar from some of the residents near the libraries slated to be closed.

In my city, the smaller library branches haven't closed but all of the branches have had their hours cut, even the main branch. I hope the branch near me doesn't close. It's within walking distance from me and I would much prefer to go there than have to go to the Main Branch. If the branch near me closed, I know I would use the physical library much less often since I have to catch the bus or get a ride to the main branch.

Originally Posted by wyndslash

This is so interesting. Our public education is not up to par and that's why private school here is so popular. However, to my knowledge, though our private schools are mostly religious, they don't really force you to believe in the same thing. And the tuition of private schools keep going up next year even though the quality of some schools is coming into question. There is a need for real public education here. Education shouldn't have to be a privilege.

As long as we main the current status quo in terms of funding education, there will always be gross inequality in the public school systems in the US. Which is sad. It's really unfair that a child in a small rural school district or living in certain neighborhoods in a city are more likely to have an inferior education that a child living in a middle class or posh suburb.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

As I've said before - quit buying/loaning cds, dvds, and video games. Those have no place in a library...

Doing a quick seach for "DVD" on that Tacoma library's catalog, turned up 8500 hits...(no video games that I could see, though)

Better yet, since so many people use Libraries as video rental places, stop renting them and put a couple Red Box machines in front.

This is both nonsense and, more importantly, bad strategy.

Nonsense because there's no real difference between Nora Roberts or Lawrence Block or Greg Bear, on the one hand, and renting DVDs on the other hand.

Novels and DVDs are about entertainment, and I don't see that one has a higher moral claim than the other. And of course books are just as available for as DVDs.

And libraries began carrying media other than books pretty much as soon as it was feasible - the library I went to as a kid, in the pre-VCR 70's, had vinyl records and cassette tapes. The only reason libraries have traditionally focused on books is because books were basically all there were. However, some of the early Carnegie libraries did have billiard rooms and bath houses.

But, turning to strategy, libraries are *expensive*. I pay, through my property taxes, about $150/year to support my library. It's a good deal for me...but it's less of a good deal for the 85-90% of the population who don't read 10+ books a year, and who may wonder why they pay so much money to subsidize those who want to read the "Wheel of Time" series, when no one does anything for people who would like to watch "Babylon 5" on DVD.

Second, when libraries argue about their budgets, the *best* point they can make to justify their budgets is the number of annual visitors and the number of items checked out annually.

Third, my library's big expenses are salaries, debt service, and operating the buildings (including heating, cooling, etc.). The cost of DVDs compared to all of that is *tiny*. My library's budget is $40 million per year. It's been frozen for a while, but due to various economic issues, it is facing a $3.5 million shortfall. If it bought no DVDs this year, (and assuming it hasn't already cut back) it could save maybe $50,000. (Of my library's 2.1 million items, 29,000 are DVDs). So this won't save libraries. This won't help libraries. Libraries won't even notice this.

[Barty]

The small branch libraries are important because they provide a safe and (hopefully) educational place for kids to go to. When I was a kid, I'd go hang out at the local branch library because our house had no AC and it was hot as hell. It was either that or the Sears. Got a lot of reading done. Once in a while, my dad would drive us to the big library for the bigger selection. That was a treat.

It's really sad to see library funds get cut, opening days and hours dropped, branches closed...

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by Barty

It's really sad to see library funds get cut, opening days and hours dropped, branches closed...

yeah, it really shows you where the priorities are *sigh*

[jkeene]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

...
But, turning to strategy, libraries are *expensive*. I pay, through my property taxes, about $150/year to support my library.
...

Wow! I looked up my county's budget lines for library services. $6.3M for a population of 400,000, or about $15 per capita. We have no DVDs at all, no Overdrive either, just NetLibrary for ebooks. The core physical book selection is decent, but all the branches are completely closed every Friday.

I've twice written my county commissioner to protest proposed library cuts, looks like I should be pushing for an increase.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

The problem I see with having only libraries in schools is that it would cost so much more than local community libraries, especially now when schools are having programs cut left and right. It would cost fortunes to stock several school libraries with identical inventories, rather than a central library with one or two copies of books.

It would have to be identical school libraries, because of security concerns from opening up the school to outsiders coming to get books.

Not to mention the banned books that over-eager parents have pulled from school library shelves.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I agree. But in this day of tight budgets, I'd like to see smaller library branches shut down and those funds used to support larger regional libraries. Consolidation would better utilize dwindling tax dollars by providing better services.

I agree. I don't want to see libraries shut down, but if they need to save funds, consolidating into regional libraries makes sense.

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by queentess

Not to mention the banned books that over-eager parents have pulled from school library shelves.

i don't quite understand their criteria for "banning" a book. is it one whose ideas challenge what they believe to be "right" and "moral"? D: we don't have banned books here, i think.

[rogue_librarian]

There is no official procedure, or protocol. Since all libraries are free to choose which books to carry, school libraries have sometimes been ordered to withdraw certain books from general circulation, usually after some parents' complaints. Librarians often simply comply instead of arguing the case (easier that way). Here's a list of frequently challenged books, 2000 - 2009.

PS: Am I the only one who this thread's title reminds of something written by The Onion?