At least a couple of suburban library systems might ask voters to approve new local taxes after state cuts decimated their budgets. Almost all libraries are set to cut hours, eliminate Sunday service, lay off employees and pare wages. They will buy fewer titles and fewer copies.

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To the other poster : The paucity of your arguments is clearly demonstrated by your need to engage in personal attacks and cast aspersions at those who disagree with you.

A.

Spend more time advocating your causes and less time criticizing those of us who support ours.  Ohio has and should continue to have one of the best funding systems for public libraries.  That is why areas such as Cincinnati haven’t had to raise levies for the public library system there.  Keep in mind that State funding extends to public libraries all across Ohio, not just to Cincinnati.  I really wonder why Cincinnati has even been singled out.

If any of you argue that the fundamental problem with the library funding system is that it is done so through the state, then that is merely a matter of politics and philosophy.  I will always support state funding of public libraries wherever I live and I would not wish any less for any other place. 

The one very important thing that I would like to point out is that if I do not agree with the proposed cuts to public library funding, it does not mean I agree with any other cuts.  I do not agree with the proposed cuts that will negatively affect any of our state mental health or other health related programs.  I do not agree with cuts in funding to early education programs. 

If cuts are necessary, are there any other places besides these vital public programs which could be clipped? 

Saying that one cause MUST lose for another to survive only pits us against one another. It just makes people angry and defensive.  Why aren’t you writing and phoning and spreading the word like mad to save your programs instead of spending your time telling us why our cause for public libraries is of less value?  If you get the word out as much as the public libraries and their supporters have, you could do a lot of good.  I don’t really believe you want to do good though.

As for libraries healing the sick, you really should have come to the library funding rally at the Statehouse.  A few brave souls who spoke were able to relate experiences where the libraries were essential with getting information for the care of their sick.

Now I implore you get the word out for your causes.  Make the case for the sick and our state’s programs for children.  If I knew there were a rally in defense of your programs, I would do my best to make the event or spread the word, even though I know I might run into any one of you.

The library community is very committed and passionate about the cause.  They are also very well informed and very very good at coming together on issues.  You might learn something from them.  You might even gain their support.  Just don’t be so jealous.

“The librarian is a old creation. It is not unlike the old-fashioned phone operater of ‘Pennsylvania 6-5000′ fame or a telegraph keyer – the artifact of inefficiencies in the system. Eliminate the technical barriers of information exchange, you eliminate the need for libraries and librarians.”

This is an old and narrow conception of what libraries do. And this is our fault– we have done a terrible job as a profession marketing how we are actually used and how we see ourselves.  A recent study by OCLC found that overwhelmingly, people see the library brand as “books.” Although this is not surprising to those of us in the profession, it is disheartening. Yes, we are in the market of providing access to books, but we also provide access to so much more. Contrary to popular belief, not everything is accessible on the free web. Libraries spend thousands of dollars to provide the public with access to online journal content and educational software packages like Learning Express Library and Mango Languages.  We teach people to sign up for e-mail accounts, fill out job applications online, and search job super sites. Shocking numbers of people come to us not knowing how to do this– and where else can they go for help? The library is also a “third place”– we are a community center. We are a place people can meet for free.

People come to us when their online searches are unfruitful and we help them find what they are looking for. Now more than ever people need librarians: the overwhelming amount of information (often inaccurate information) brings people to us when they can no longer navigate, interpret, or gauge accuracy.  And there continues to be a huge digital divide in this country. So much of our world revolves around online information, and for many, the public library is the only way for them to learn the skills and/or have access to that technology.  The educational system is clearly under duress– libraries work with groups like Head Start to take on trying to address Kindergarden readiness.  We fill gaps.

There is no place, publicly funded or otherwise, that serves the vast range of people and their needs that libraries do.
We are the people’s university, we are a safe haven, we are a repository of cultural knowledge, we are teachers, we are entertainers, we provide access to otherwise inaccessible content,  we provide access to technology, we are a place to meet and build community.  Libraries are an essential part of a community’s safety net– together with mental health programs, social services, and educational institutions, we keep communities vital. Community health relies on a healthy system– there must be a way to continue to keep all the parts of the system healthy. Otherwise we condemn ourselves to a bleak future.

By the way, I also think that learning to fish is great…eating is also great, and food pantries are also on the substantial cuts list.

At least by supporting libraries, we are giving people the proverbial oppurtunity to teach themselves to fish so they can eat for life rather than giving them more welfare/entitlements such as medicaid so they can eat for a day.   My money would go to libraries anyday.

Good luck with that. You might as well add teachers to that list. A barrier is just a barrier.

Eliminate the spiritual barriers of divine exchange, you eliminate the need for religion.

Hey, wait a minute I like this model!

There is a lot of spin and conflation of a library with community center, daycare, juvie hall, etc. While I am not in dispute with those goals, I can’t help but notice that the librarian community was not manning the barricades when fundings for those were cut. Right now, there is a big selling of some quasi-romantic, quasi-liberal, social safety net of the physical plant of the library.

The ideals of the library are being understated in the concern for the current physical manifestations of the library. If not immediately, in the very near future I can see it as a more economic way to attain the library goals by almost eliminating physical facilities and getting community members a Kindle and Netflix account. I see lobbying action to maintain the status quo, but very little planning action to go beyond.

I think the funding model (not just for libraries, but for all kinds of public goods) of relying on government largess and putting effort into getting a share of the dole is a relic. It seems to be hip and trendy to mock corporate sponsorship, but that is really just trading compulsory funding for voluntary – and that is just one example. I hope the library community takes this challenge as opportunity to re-model, re-examine and get stronger in the service of its ideals. The old model rewards lobbying for the status quo, as I mentioned above, not innovation and forward-thinking.

A.

And, as a little gasoline on the, I will relate what a friend and I came up with in an exchange :

The librarian is a old creation. It is not unlike the old-fashioned phone operater of ‘Pennsylvania 6-5000′ fame or a telegraph keyer – the artifact of inefficiencies in the system. Eliminate the technical barriers of information exchange, you eliminate the need for libraries and librarians.

I will also repeat what I said in the other thread – I hope that the library industry will put as much effort into creative financing as they are into lobbying.

A.

http://www.wisconsinlibraries.org/research/value.asp