0

By David Rothman

A government-hater in Bloomington, Illinois, ranted in the local paper against public libraries: “Conservatively, I estimate that a Barnes & Noble or other competitor could deliver the same services for as little as 25 percent of the current cost to the taxpayers.” Rochelle quickly blogged it in LISNews. And then another LISNews type joined in with some math:

I’ve never understood this impression that public libraries are really expensive – I checked and I paid something like $15 a month in property taxes for my library ‘subscrption’. He’s estimating Barnes and Noble will let me take anything from the store home for only $3.50 a month? That’s half the price of a single paperback book!…

What’s more, e-books could drive down the costs of libraries and stores alike. But I don’t think that’s the real issue in the case of already-underfunded libraries. Instead it should be: How can libraries use technology to give patrons still more value for their money, so funding can increase?

 
0