Can libraries survive?
Libraries nationwide are facing cutbacks and shutdowns. Like those in Middletown, most are also facing a Catch 22: the stagnant economy blew a hole in their budgets. At the same time, as people look for low-cost access to information and entertainment, it has also boosted their demand.
Essentially, libraries are closing down just when their communities need them the most.
According to a 2010 study from the Online Computer Library Center, 81 percent of Americans who have been “economically impacted” by the recession have a library card, compared to 68 percent who have not.
“Lots of libraries provide income-tax assistance, financial literacy, and reading literacy. They are helping people solve their problems in their daily lives as well as providing resources at no cost,” says Susan Hildreth, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
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This is what happens when you let government workers retire in their fifties with health benefits and cushy pensions. You run out of money for everything else. Someday this might sink into the half-dead brains of liberals.
Mark1971 on February 16, 2013 at 6:58 PM
As they are already trying to make everyone pay for the “poor’s” internet access….who care’s. With the internet there is plenty of free entertainment and information. Shut em down.
CW on February 16, 2013 at 7:01 PM
Yes and no. There will always be “book museums” that store rare and valuable books, but there will be no brick and mortar functional libraries. It will all be online.
DFCtomm on February 16, 2013 at 7:27 PM
This is true. Lefties can never make that connection, it seems.
visions on February 16, 2013 at 7:51 PM
Shut them and the post office down. Both obselete.
WisCon on February 16, 2013 at 7:52 PM
I live in a small town, the library here is well stocked, well loved, and well patronized, I pray that it never goes away. We have a district library system here and it works well. I have all the technology I can handle, however, I am a book lover, nothing will ever replace the way my senses merge with a real book in my hands. Nothing.
waterytart on February 16, 2013 at 8:15 PM
Exactly. We could afford mansion-sized libraries for every major city without breaking a sweat if we weren’t subsidizing Democrat-voting, multi-generational welfare families by the thousand.
Throwing libraries out the window and proclaim that everything is online now anyway is absurd. And it’s a disgrace that we’ve come to such a point where literature is treated with such abandon.
MelonCollie on February 16, 2013 at 8:17 PM
After becoming a fan of several prolific authors and spending a ton on Kindle books, I recently joined my hometown library. I contribute regularly to their “Friends of the Library” organization and still save a lot of money. However, I would be perfectly content to pay an annual fee and eliminate taxpayer funding.
photom on February 16, 2013 at 8:18 PM
We need our library here in my town. I can take the kids there to study without distraction and take advantage of checking out books myself. Definitely not obsolete. In fact we live close to it.
CrimsonFisted on February 16, 2013 at 8:19 PM
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This is the most succinct statement of the problem that can be made.
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I really wonder if the library systems could be privatized so that only subscription users could have access to the books and periodicals now extant in the systems. It would take a lot of capital to buy up the infrastructure and contents of most city and county libraries.
ExpressoBold on February 16, 2013 at 8:43 PM
The Middletown library is a few miles and a few townships from me. They blew their budget a few years ago on a new building, a white elephant that displays books like a bookstore, with an expensive “green” heating and cooling system that fails every year, requiring costly repairs as a recurring expense.
And none of the local fourth estate would dream of embarrassing their buddies in government over this. It’s as bad as it is with Senator Menendez. (A man who would gyp the prostitute he hired is capable of anything.)
njcommuter on February 16, 2013 at 10:45 PM