Editorial: LosingLibraries.org
Jun 30, 2010IN THE UK, ACCORDING TO THE GUARDIAN (6/11/10),
a government-commissioned report by KPMG consultants aimed at public sector reform proposes that libraries could be more effectively run by local volunteers rather than by “over-skilled paid staff,” since libraries are “not very much used.” Oh, and the government could save some money, too, on “poor use of space and unnecessary stock.”
The chair of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, also the former poet laureate, Andrew Motion, objected:
Of course money must be saved...but...[g]ood libraries, like good anythings, need expert people working within them.
Whether we are traditionalists about libraries or not, and I consider myself not, we ought to be able to accept that libraries are very important...for delivering to human beings what they need—information, pleasure, instruction, enlightenment, new direction in life...[help] with...reading [and] learning English—to put all that in danger is exactly the wrong thing to do.
There is no harm in society periodically asking itself which services should be publicly funded, and how they should be run, but it is...foolhardy...[to] wantonly abandon resources that support learning and help build our potential...at a critical time.
The views expressed by KPMG apparently have supporters on this side of the Atlantic, too, where libraries are under attack as never before.
In Santa Cruz, CA, a grand jury charged with investigating government agencies suggested “reducing staff by up to 20 percent and….downgrading some branches to ‘community centers/reading rooms’ ” staffed by volunteers, according to a report in LJ. In Hood County, OR, the small county system was forced to close its doors June 30—but not before telling patrons about the services available to the bitter end, including the summer reading program: “Stop in and receive a free book if you pledge to continue reading all summer,” says its website (see also News, p. 17).
There are some glimmers of hope. In South Carolina, Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed state aid to public libraries and stimulus funds (also putting millions in federal grant funds at risk), saying that libraries didn’t “rise to the level of many of our other core services.” Barely a week later, state legislators overturned his veto by higher margins than that for any other override. His cuts would have meant 97¢ per capita instead of the current $2.25. Quick action by library supporters, who made the case for the importance of libraries to the economic recovery, led to the reversal (see News, p. 17).
In Siskiyou County, CA, Friends warded off a zero budget and imminent closure by putting together a website on the fly and pulling off a reprieve that will keep a few branches open for six months. Next on tap (with the help of the state library) is getting citizens to support a special dedicated property or sales tax for library operations.
The little bit of good news from these stories indicates that so far on-the-ground efforts at the local level have had the most effect. The statewide exception—and perhaps a model—is Ohio, which has dedicated statewide funding as well as a wellspring of support for libraries.
A year ago, Ohio was nonetheless embattled, and the nation watched Ohio librarians and supporters successfully force the governor to rescind his most draconian cuts. The website SaveOhioLibraries.com was critical to this effort.
Now, libraries nationwide are coping with cuts that make us fear for the future of library service in many communities. Some of the individual local responses have been heroic. Still, the problem is vast enough that the impact will be far from local, demanding more aggressive action on a national scale. Someone needs to be telling the story of how public libraries, an essential national institution, are under assault.
Toward this, in partnership with Laura Solomon and Mandy Knapp, who spearheaded SaveOhioLibraries.com (and were named LJ Movers & Shakers for doing so), LJ is launching LosingLibraries.org, to map libraries’ cuts/layoffs/closings and create a unified national picture. If your library or a library you know has been affected, go to the site to submit info, including links to the community’s response. Help us tell the whole story, and in the process help everyone do something about it.
