I grew up poor, and attended a terrible school.
I’m self educated, basically, and I owe it all to libraries. I’m still fairly poor, and I still read library books almost exclusively.
My feelings towards anyone who would threaten the existence of public libraries are inappropriate for a public forum, so I will not try to express them. Just don’t make any such statement within throwing distance of me, or without a good running head start.
Again, the average tax outlay per person for a public library is a few dollars a year. Pretending that libraries make up some significant portion of government money is a joke.
Just because you don’t use the library doesn’t mean that nobody does. Go to a good healthy urban library- one with decent hours and a decent location. The Oakland main branch library was always packed.
Anyway, books are not particularly cheap. Minimum wage is $6.75. That means a single book can easily cost a half day’s work. I can burn through a book pretty easy in a night or two. There is no way for a fast reader on a tight budget to have reasonably free access to written information. When I was broke, I’d go to the library every week. I had a job where I could read at work, and so I’d pull out dozens of books at a time. I could never, ever do that on my own.
Also there are times when it is useful to read books but not have any good need to own them. I went through a phase where I read every book ever written about resume writing. I’ll never ever need to read those books again, but I am eternally grateful that I had access to them.
Beyond that, there is the whole host of other functions libraries serve that others have mentioned. I think libraries are probably one of the MOST useful public institutions. They don’t cost a lot to run and they can directly make a neighborhood a better place for its citizens.
I just checked. In my town it comes out to $29 per person per year. Basically, the price of two trade paperbacks gives the town (and the surrounding county) access to thousands of books, movies, CDs, audiobooks, magazines, reference databases, Internet access, video games, storytimes, reading clubs, word processing access and the staff’s knowledge on almost any subject (if you want to cheat at a crossword, the library is perfect for that).
It seems a poor practice to think things should be shut down just because you can’t conceive a purpose for them.
I say only shut them down when they aren’t being used anymore, and as far as I know libraries are still very popular. Maybe not quite as much as they once were, but then again perhaps even that’s a flawed assumption.
I haven’t used a library in about 10 years.
Well, as to GuanoLad’s last post, I am a member of 3 libraries and cannot recall ever going to one without other people being there.
Circulation and usage numbers for all of the libraries in my county system are higher than they’ve ever been. Other librarians across the country report similar rises in popularity.
I can’t count the number of times I needed a book just once, and never again. My house already holds more books than I know what to do with. If I had to buy every book I read, or read part of, I’d have to eat the books, to make room for more.
I don’t have the space I once had, so having tons of books is no longer an option. The library is a wonderful substitute.
Plus, out-of-print books: I managed to find a copy of Olaf Stapledon’s Last and First Men. This copy had to be almost as old as my mother (and I’m forty-four!)
Yes, Amazon is an alternative, as you can buy cheap, used books…still, you never know what you are getting until you get it in your hands. You could be paying $5.00 plus S&H for loose pages glued together…:smack:
I can get the books I want for free. How bad can that be.
I wanted to read Grants autobiography. They put out a notice to the chain of libraries and found a copy. They had it shipped to my library and they emailed me when it came in.
I watch cspan 2 on weekends. They have book tv. When I see one that interests me I can get it at my library.
They also have computer access . It is hard to believe that a lot of people do not have a computer at home. They can send emails and apply for jobs there.Whats not to love?
You’ll get my library card when you take it from my cold, dead hands. You can’t count the number of brand new, expensive hardbacks I check out from our local library system. If I had to buy every one of them, I’d go broke.
And as others said, there are so many rare and out-of-print books that I’d NEVER find elsewhere.
Again, you’ll take my library card when you take it from my cold, dead, hands. Andrew Carnegie is rolling in his grave at this thread!
I have recently been spending many hours in the public libraries in Arlington, VA. They have books and computers. There seemed to be more people there for the use of the computers than books although I suppose people check the books out but have to use the computer on the premises. I saw quite a few people using the computer for job searches and for homework and similar work (word processing etc.) . I believe the community investment in helping these people who are reading books or who are trying to improve their situation is well worth the cost. Some people, like myself, brought our own laptops but used the wireless internet access.
The library also provided a large hall or meeting room where I suppose community acts could take place.
I also saw too many noisy children and parents and staff who would not keep them in check. If there is going to be a children’s play area it should be in another room so patrons are not disturbed. I would propose a minimum age limit to enter a public library. Babies and infants do not belong there as they gain nothing and disturb the other patrons.
It seems a poor practice to think you should be able to take someone else’s money, by force, for something they don’t want to support just because you can conceive a purpose for that money.
I use the library to try out new books. If I like them enough to know I will reread them, I’ll go buy them.
I’m not pretending anything - to the consumers I was speaking of - the urban poor (many of whom are receive tax and monetary benefits and income supplements from the state already), libraries are free - they can walk in and take home books without being parted from any of their cash. They’re free at point of delivery.
Sure, they’re paid for by other taxpayers, but, speaking as one of those taxpayers, I’m perfectly happy with that arrangement.
I’m also not particularly convinced that removing libraries would translate to a measurable tax reduction - the released funds would quite likely be absorbed by some other worthy cause.
You may not wish to support libraries, but they still benefit you because they serve to improve society - of which you are (well, I suppose you are) a part.
You may resent this decision being made for you, but that’s why you elected a government.
It’s unlikely that anyone outside the Philadelphia area is aware of it, but this exact issue of the value of libraries is a raging firestorm around here. In short, the city is facing a huge budgetary shortfall and part of the mayor’s plan to bridge the gap is the closing of, among other things, 11 of the 54 branches of the public library. He has taken a huge – with a capital H – amount of grief for this, much more for the libraries than for the public pools and fire houses that will also be shut down as part of the plan.
The debate here makes me think that anyone who attempted to enact an absolute free-market policy of “no public libraries,” as articulated by some people in this thread, wouldn’t get very far. Supporters of the library closings are not, by and large, arguing that libraries are a waste of money, but that our current number of branches was intended to support a city of a larger population (which Philly has had in the past) and that if you close a branch, it’s not really that bad if there’s another one a couple miles away. Asserting we should wholly privatize book lending and free internet (among the other functions of libraries) would likely be political suicide.
On the other hand, I don’t really agree with the sentiment expressed here that libraries are particularly cheap. The branch closings in Philly are expected to save the city around 8 million dollars per year. Small potatoes compared to AIG’s bailout, but when you’re staring down a shrinking population, decreased income, and a fiscal shortfall, I think that number is fairly significant.
Education is important and should be readily available to everyone.
Public libraries buy most new books and as an author I appreciate the sales. Not everyone can afford the Internet, or to buy a book from anywhere, so public libraries serve a useful function. My kids, before they were married, frequently checked out AND READ five or six books a week on a continuous basis. I’m uncertain what their habits are now but we’re all voracious readers in our family.
Public libraries also have an extensive collection of reference books, many of which would cost an individual hundreds of dollars to buy. They usually have at least a decade’s worth of National Geographic (Popular Science, and other publications) you can read on site while you’re there.
My kids attended ‘story hour’ at public libraries anytime we were near a city large enough to have one, and they loved it, as well as the children’s section which helped them to want to learn to read.
I’d far rather do away with public schools than public libraries, it’d save more tax dollars and children would have access to a much better comprehensive education.
FWIW - Jesse.
I too have a problem with libraries, museums, historical society buildings, and the like. Several (many) years ago, my home town (Huntsville, AL) went out and built a new library and a new museum. They should have been combined in one building. It would have enriched both sets of patrons, saved on building, utility, and maintenance expense, and offered the opportunity for joint coordinated exhibits.
Do them together, dammit.
Without libraries, how will our civilizations compete? Our cities will be overrun with tanks while we can only defend with [del]phalanxes[/del] [del]phalanxi[/del] [del]phalanxeses[/del] spearmen!