Thanks,
David

The notion that the libraries are expendable, that good bookstores (brick-and-mortar and/or digital) are enough, and we don’t need all that high-priced library staff (high-priced? I want what Clark’s been smoking) is simply absurd. For reference and research purposes, a good library is superior to a good bookstore. Ditto for depth of collection — Barnes and Noble superstores, delightful though they are, carry what’s in print. Libraries will keep books as long as the titles are being used by their patrons, long past the time the publishers drop them.

And a number of those people using the computers at the libraries will be using them to access the library’s periodical and newspaper databases that aren’t always open to the general internet user.

Books? I can walk into the local public library and into the local college library and find plenty of titles, serious and light, that I won’t find in regional bookstores and can’t order any more from their publishers, and nobody in the libraries will stand in the way of my reading them.

And why in these articles (Clark’s isn’t the first of these, and won’t be the last) do they always bring up coffee? Who gives a damn? You can get coffee anywhere.

Bests to all,

-tr

Done just that more than once. Thanks to late lamented Stacey’s in Palo Alto, and the still thriving Schwartz’s in Mequon, both staffed by people who read!

Inflated salaries?

Excuse me?

Many librarians I know are barely making above minimum wage. As for librarians with degrees, many of them aren’t even making what they should be for their degree level. If you want to talk inflated salaries, go talk to your politicians, your movie stars and your company CEOs.

And do you really think you could walk into a big bookstore, find a clerk and ask them about a book you’ve forgotten the title of and the author’s name (though you remember the plot), and be able to find it?

Does this person even realize just how many kids frequent public libraries? Does he even realize how important the library is for kids who have no one to go home to?

I would like to know what library this author has actually been in to give him such a negative viewpoint, because I strongly suspect he’s going off outdated, misleading stereotypes. No librarian today would intentionally “criminalize” a reader for bringing back an overdue book. And as for fines, just like in everyday life, there are consequences for mistakes. When you sign up for a library card, the patron is expected to abide by certain rules — just like your parents expected you to do things, just like your boss or your children expect you to do things, just like your local police department expect you to abide by their laws. In a library, one of these rules is to bring back your books before they become due, and if you can’t bring them back, to make arrangements with the library (i.e. renewal, or some other way of return). When you signed that card application, you agreed to this. And all the librarians I’ve met are more than willing to accommodate special circumstances, if only the patron will ask.

Libraries work hard to serve their communities. In this age of growing digital technology, they are working harder than ever to provide relevant services to their patrons. The problems facing libraries today are the same ones that have the ebook community in an uproar — costly devices, obnoxious DRM, supply, demand, and universality of format. Many librarians I know want to offer more and more digital content.

They just can’t afford to. They can’t afford to be locked into something that won’t be available a year or two or three down the road.

And so, they stick with books. They work on perfecting their searching techniques, they work to implement social software, they work to provide the community with a central hub where everyone can find what they’re looking for — be it entertainment, facts, or figures.

Libraries aren’t the villain here.

And furthermore, the primary focus of a library is against censorship (I suggest the author read the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights). Do you really think that, once the government gets a hold of the funds from a closed library that the materials provided through your “subsidized bookstores” will remain uncensored?

Fat chance.

And also, if a library is funded by a county (city, etc.), it is a line item in the budget. Cut those dollars, and the money returns/stays with the people.

Unless you’re Communist, that is.

On a personal (and final) note, I am appalled by the total lack of credible fact in this article.

Heather S. Ingemar

Yeah, Let’s not confuse medium with content. Journalists are people who get paid to write the news for a publishing company that does there best to put out a high-quality package of content. They are in fact in it for the Newspaper (ie. the package of content) If people were in it to write the news for free without the title of journalist, they could do that any time they like and put out pieces of paper with news stories on it or post it on the web. When you go to a site, or a newspaper or a book, you are not just paying for what’s inside you are paying for a well-researched, Edited, polished product. Libraries buy them and provide them to you for free. Being a journalist is not a Public Service. Being a Public Servant who will volunteer their time and free information/knowledge is something different.

Yes, if you are not trying to make money and be a heart-warming volunteer to civilization, then great, write your thoughts, put the work into polishing them, then teach them to children. But Publishers at their heart need to make money. Libraries at their heart are trying to provide comfortable access to knowledge to everyone.

And yes Librarians are wayyyy more than just wardens. The programs they create, the knowledge they hold, the search techniques (which is a skill unto itself- trust me); a Librarian does not just hold a book for you. And they are a Hundred times more knowledgeable than anyone you will find at a Book store.

I am huge proponent of EReading and EBooks, as I am sure everyone else reading this blog is, but let’s not forget that as a Package a Library is more than just a warehouse to hold books.

This post seems to be from somewhere other than the United States so I can’t really speak to the details. However, I will say that the average person pays $18 for library services annually in my community. They actually only pay $3 per book. Are you really saying that you can get better access online with $3 or even $18?

I get really tired of people thinking all reading is on the web when I can attest that it isn’t. As a librarian, I am frustrated by the fact that it isn’t. Libraries are still the only place providing free and new content. Online there are thousands for free, all old and outdated. You still have to pay for new things, but your library provides them for free. Where’s the logic here? I am baffled!

First, I am a librarian. I rarely stack books. I have two master’s degrees and I use them to design and acquire a collection that meets the needs of my patrons (at a university). I also use my skills to help patrons find the best resource (be it book, website, or whatever) to meet their information need. I also spend considerable amounts of time finding ways to pass these skills on to the patron so that they can be more productive without assistance. I do all of this for a salary less than I earned as a consultant with only one MA.

Bookstores clerks do not care if you find the best book for your purposes just that you buy one. They are not educated in advanced search techniques nor do they have access to a collection with anything near the depth of even a small public library. They have not been taught how to evaluate materials for reliability. In fact they are probably just between jobs at fast food locations where they can be paid higher wages.

Finally, your correspondent seems blissfully unaware of the important role that public libraries play in early literacy education. Ask any grade school teacher and they will talk at length about the efforts school and public librarians put into teaching children to read. Without these efforts we would have far fewer readers.