Why We Need Free Public Libraries More Than Ever

[jeffrey]

As a former head of the state library agency in Massachusetts and a taxpayer myself, I read with interest the recent Atlantic editorial in which an elected official from Swampscott, Massachusetts proposed public library user fees as a reasonable and "modern" solution to some perceived imbalance.


Under this proposal, a 50 cent user fee would be added to each book circulated by the library. In addition to addressing the supposed tax inequity created by the current system of funding for the Swampscott Library, the proposal would generate an estimated $300,000 in additional funds for the library...

Why We Need Free Public Libraries More Than Ever - Keith Michael Fiels - National - The Atlantic

[bjl584]

The author is obviously biased on this matter due to his past working in the library.

I don't really see a problem with charging a fee for a book. If you can't come up with 50 cents for a book, then you probably aren't going to the library in the first place. Are there really droves of poor and unemployed people flocking to the local library? Maybe a few to use the internet for job searching, but I think that the author is exaggerated how many people use the library and how much impact a fee for checking out a book would cause.

I think that people would probably be more upset if you took away their cable tv than if you charged them 50 cents for a book at the library.

[mcfroggin]

For free education - check out my blog. Books can get boring. My free education post lets you listen to Ivy League college lectures for free. Now that is a great way to learn!

[scotland]

Governments dont like spending money on Libraries, Hospitals, Education etc, because this would mean having to raise taxes and rich people would be annoyed.

[LuckyRobin]

Libraries should be free, but if they need money they should just increase fines on overdue books. That way only those who abuse the system by keeping books out longer than allowed are the ones who pay, and since it is a totally avoidable fee, it shouldn't hurt those who avoid it by being responsible. Our library even allows people to return library books to certain grocery stores (they have collection boxes) and county schools that are not close to a library. Low income people flock in droves to our library and its resources (free internet use, online databases). I am not low income but remember when I was and I still use the library a lot because the cost of books at a bookstore is high and I would protest a per book charge, but not higher late fees.

[KiwiJo09]

Libraries should be free, but if they need money they should just increase fines on overdue books. That way only those who abuse the system by keeping books out longer than allowed are the ones who pay, and since it is a totally avoidable fee, it shouldn't hurt those who avoid it by being responsible. Our library even allows people to return library books to certain grocery stores (they have collection boxes) and county schools that are not close to a library. Low income people flock in droves to our library and its resources (free internet use, online databases). I am not low income but remember when I was and I still use the library a lot because the cost of books at a bookstore is high and I would protest a per book charge, but not higher late fees.

No one actually pays late fees. If you care enough to go to the library, you aren't going to keep the book longer than it's due date.

[LuckyRobin]

No one actually pays late fees. If you care enough to go to the library, you aren't going to keep the book longer than it's due date.

That's a broad and sweeping statement to make and also not true. I pay late fees. My husband and kids are not as good as I am about getting stuff returned in time. And there is always a long line of people waiting to pay their fines, so I'm not sure where you get the idea no one pays them. You can't check out more books if your fine is above $5 at our library. Also, they've raised over a million dollars in the last three years since they raised their fine levels, so yeah, people do pay them.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I do think there are people who could not afford $0.50 per book, at least not without cutting back their reading. I'm sure my little brother who read six books a day, walking 4 miles round trip a day, could not have afforded whatever the equivalent of today's $3/day when he was a child. As a child I read much less and could not even have come up with fees like that for my one or two books a week. But to tell the truth, I think our librarian would have let us sneak books home, unpaid had there been rental fees. (Thanks, Mrs. Kuykendahl! I still remember you to this day. )

I think public libraries are one of the greatest things we've done. I hope they continue to develop and help our communities.

[photo]

Books can get boring.

That's kind of like saying that life is boring. The scope of genres and material is extraordinarily vast. As long as I have access to books, I'll always be rich.