Budget Cuts Force Seattle Public Library to Close for a Week

[tubemonkey]

The Seattle Public Library system will close Monday, Aug. 27 through Sunday, Sept. 2 due to citywide budget cuts. All libraries will be closed for the Labor Day holiday Monday, Sept. 3. Regular Library operations will resume Tuesday, Sept. 4.

They did this last year. People who rely on physical visits to the library are screwed, as most services will be unavailable during the closure. But people like me who only do digital downloads, won't be affected by this closure at all.

Personally, I'd solve the budget crunch by shutting down a few branches and consolidating services.

[JD Gumby]

Makes me glad the library system here is (mostly) funded by a specific portion of our property taxes (as befits a system with 179k registered users, or 48% of the population in the area it services).

[morriss003]

The whole concept of a public library needs to be redefined. Rather than building a building to house a library, it makes more sense in the digital age to rent many small spaces in public businesses, like MacDonalds and have readers available. Yes, this concept is simplistic. Feel free to expand.

[kennyc]

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[kennyc]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

...
Personally, I'd solve the budget crunch by shutting down a few branches and consolidating services.

That's what they did here after the public rejected an "arts tax"

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by kennyc

That's what they did here after the public rejected an "arts tax"

How many branches were closed and how did the public respond?

[RainingLemur]

Originally Posted by kennyc

That's what they did here after the public rejected an "arts tax"

Doesn't surprise me that a tax was rejected. It sucks, but it doesn't surprise me.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by morriss003

The whole concept of a public library needs to be redefined. Rather than building a building to house a library, it makes more sense in the digital age to rent many small spaces in public businesses, like MacDonalds and have readers available. Yes, this concept is simplistic. Feel free to expand.

Problem with that, is many small spaces may cost more than a few larger places. Plus, it would not be very convenient for many people. Say you wanted to check out book X, you'd have to track down where it was first. Most current libraries have most books, a small location inside of some place else couldnt have many books.

Originally Posted by kennyc

That's what they did here after the public rejected an "arts tax"

The county I used to live in rejected a bond to get a library.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Problem with that, is many small spaces may cost more than a few larger places. Plus, it would not be very convenient for many people. Say you wanted to check out book X, you'd have to track down where it was first. Most current libraries have most books, a small location inside of some place else couldnt have many books.



The county I used to live in rejected a bond to get a library.

People in the small town I live in have built and maintained a library without government.

[Nahgem]

Originally Posted by morriss003

The whole concept of a public library needs to be redefined. Rather than building a building to house a library, it makes more sense in the digital age to rent many small spaces in public businesses, like MacDonalds and have readers available. Yes, this concept is simplistic. Feel free to expand.

Can those ereaders be checked out somehow so that people can take then and then drop them off later at, say, the ereader kiosk in Starbucks? Do those kiosks have a computer terminal with research technicians or librarians to assist them? Will they have print editions of books that haven't been digitized yet because doing so is of dubious legality, or because some people just don't like ebooks? What about periodicals, or ILL services to another kiosk/library in the next town over that has something the patron wants but can't access because they're from a different state/county, or they just don't have transportation?

eReader kiosks are a nifty idea, but they can't realistically replace library services yet.

[morriss003]

Originally Posted by Nahgem

Can those ereaders be checked out somehow so that people can take then and then drop them off later at, say, the ereader kiosk in Starbucks? Do those kiosks have a computer terminal with research technicians or librarians to assist them? Will they have print editions of books that haven't been digitized yet because doing so is of dubious legality, or because some people just don't like ebooks? What about periodicals, or ILL services to another kiosk/library in the next town over that has something the patron wants but can't access because they're from a different state/county, or they just don't have transportation?

eReader kiosks are a nifty idea, but they can't realistically replace library services yet.

Good answer. It's good to have at least one central library where you can find just about anything. But a library like that usually costs million and millions of dollars to develop and build and by the time that's done things may have changed. The city may have expanded in directions away from the library. Rented space is a lot easier to drop when necessary. What about an online library where you can order a hardcover book and have it delivered to you through the mail? You might have to wait your turn.

[issybird]

Sometimes people need a place to go. The old-timer who reads the paper and hopes to bump into a friend, the kid whose home is chaos and wants quiet and possibly computer access as well for homework, the unemployed who need to get out of the house but can't go anywhere that would cost them money....

Then there are those who need a live person to help them, because they're not savvy enough to suss out the resources they need.

I'm appalled by this. It's arrogance that suggests that impersonal kiosks and storefronts could replace the resources and ambiance of a library. Those for whom that would be sufficient are the less needy of the public library's clientele. I'd rather see a library like Seattle's with its huge elibrary have fewer ebooks and devote more resources to its neediest patrons.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by issybird

I'm appalled by this. It's arrogance that suggests that impersonal kiosks and storefronts could replace the resources and ambiance of a library. Those for whom that would be sufficient are the less needy of the public library's clientele. I'd rather see a library like Seattle's with its huge elibrary have fewer ebooks and devote more resources to its neediest patrons.

There's room for both digital services and full libraries. Budget cuts are forcing system closures lasting a day to a week; and even permanent branch shut downs. To combat this, I'd like to see an expansion of digital services and a consolidation of physical media to fewer physical locations.

[morriss003]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

There's room for both digital services and full libraries. Budget cuts are forcing system closures lasting a day to a week; and even permanent branch shut downs. To combat this, I'd like to see an expansion of digital services and a consolidation of physical media to fewer physical locations.

That's how I see it. I was struck by the notion of literacy centers in fast food restaurants as described by Eric Flint in his 1632 series. I can see a 9 year old kid walking into MacDonalds and racing over to the library section to see if they have the latest Goosebumps. I can see an immigrant looking for an easy to read children's book at Wendy's so he/she can practice English. I'm not against libraries where one can find the services of a good librarian, I just think a lot more can be done if people will use their imagination.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by morriss003

That's how I see it. I was struck by the notion of literacy centers in fast food restaurants as described by Eric Flint in his 1632 series. I can see a 9 year old kid walking into MacDonalds and racing over to the library section to see if they have the latest Goosebumps. I can see an immigrant looking for an easy to read children's book at Wendy's so he/she can practice English. I'm not against libraries where one can find the services of a good librarian, I just think a lot more can be done if people will use their imagination.

This is a horrible idea.

It's bad for fast food restaurants because they have to pay for space that doesn't produce revenue. It's bad for people who want to read because they are tempted to eat unhealthy food.

Or is the library only available to paying customers?

How about the immigrant and the child go to an actual library?