Are you guilty, as I often am, of taking the public library for granted? Here’s a post from a homeschooling mother whose town was without library services for six months. Becky of Life Without School writes:
Some of you may have read my post a few months ago about the controversy surrounding the closure. After ballot measures, failed levies, passed levies, community meetings, and letters to the editor, we have our libraries once again. They’re just not public anymore. Our county decided to out source our library system to a company in New Jersey to keep costs down. We’ve apparently got 3 years before we have to figure something else out. This is not good news. I can no longer refer to our library as public. We now visit the private library. It just doesn’t feel right.
It doesn’t feel right, I suspect, because it isn’t right. I firmly believe that libraries should be publicly funded. My predication is that in three years, Becky’s town will have grown used to the idea of private libraries and even more convinced that taxes are for idiots. Its citizens won’t be bothered by corporate censorship of their library materials because it will be completely invisible to them. Just as Wal-Mart alters or refuses to carry books, movies, and cds they’ve decided aren’t good for you, so will this private library not carry those materials either. If you aren’t interested in NYT bestsellers, motivational books for executives, or Disney picture books, you can take your business elsewhere. It’s not even censorship, after all, because there’s no government involved and your first amendment rights are not in play.
I was asked if we found ourselves using the internet more often over the past 6 months to fill our library needs. This question really irked me. The argument that our society no longer needs libraries because of the internet will never, ever fly with me. A warm, dry, safe gathering place, that does not charge admission for use, full of public information could never be replaced by the internet.
Or by private sponsorship.
As we made our way home and interacted with neighbors and friends, there were knowing smiles and a buzz in the air. The library? Have you been? Did you go? Were you there? Is it true? By late afternoon, we just had to go back. I reminded the kids that the library would indeed be open tomorrow, and many days after that. But we had to go back. So we did. Just a few more books, okay Mom? You bet.
This is what libraries mean to people. I hope Charlottesville never forgets that.
Tip of the hat to Silvia at Po Moyemu, who I suspect disagrees with me! While you’re at her site, check out her post on the postage rate hike for small magazines. If you don’t think this issue affects you, you probably aren’t subscribing to any good magazines.
Filed under: books, libraries, reading Tagged: | postage rate, private libraries, small magazines, taxes
LOL! I probably do disagree that libraries *should* be publicly funded. But I love our library anyway. I’m really glad we have it. Surely there are charities or private companies that would step in to run libraries, either for free to the public, or for a fee of some sort. I will be interested to hear how this one in NJ turns out.
You could say that for years I’ve been patronizing private libraries. I call them Bookstores. The way they work- I shell out the money and they get me the book I want to read and as a bonus I get to keep it too.
I’ve gotten used to not using the public library (JMRL) because I got tired of not being able to find the book I wanted to read or to have to wait a month or two because the list was so long.
I think if libraries were not publicly funded most people would either a) balk at the fees for use and the library would go out of business or b) the library would need to carry an even larger more comprehensive variety of materials to attract patrons, because lets face it reading books aren’t exactly the popular mainstream activities they used to be.
I too sometimes get frustrated with the lack of availability of materials at JMRL, but I’ve just as often not found what I’m looking for at Barnes and Noble, that one in the mall, NDB, or any of the used bookstores either.
The Jefferson-Madison Regional Library is here for the Central Virginia community that loves to read. Last year (June 2006-July 2007) J-MRL circulated 1,477,o29 books. Based on these circulation statistics, our library is one of the most heavily used public libraries, of its size, in America. Over 33,000 items were added to the library’s collection last year, and there are over 97,600 library card holders; over 4,400 children and teens participated in the summer reading programs.
Remember that not only books (and audio books) are available in the library. There are music CDs, DVDs, and online databases that give you access to thousands of magazine and newspaper articles 24/7.
Visit “ilovelibraries.org” to find out why people love their libraries.