Letters

I've done tax-related reference (Tony Greiner, "Tax Help at the Library ," BackTalk, LJ 3/15/02) in three small public libraries in Massachusetts. The IRS is referring people to libraries because the post office, a privately operated federal agency, refuses to carry the vast number of forms we are expected to have or get from a CD…. Last year my small library threw away more than 36 boxes of unused forms…. We requested we not receive as many this year; nonetheless they came, and we have a storage problem and a fire hazard….

I suggested to the IRS…that if we are to be tax resources we should be sent to Hawaii for training…. Greiner's fictional librarian already cost his patron a potential fine and interest payment because he gave her only one form for an extension: she would need two—one for federal, one for state.

The month is March. We are already getting requests for amended returns (1040X). In Massachusetts, we must also know that the accompanying state form is found under "miscellaneous" on the CD and is called "abatement," though no dictionary we own would so define it….

I went into library work because I love matching people with resources, but I dislike having that work become 50 percent tax-related for the worst part of "the IRS season." Yes, we can point out the reference books, but we are not, nor should we try to be, CPAs….

—Cynthia J. Edson. Assoc. Dir., Richards Memorial Lib., North Attleborough, MA

I recognize that Greiner ("Tax Help at the Library ," BackTalk, LJ 3/15/02) is just trying to be helpful, but I think he would have enormous difficulty defining "minimal tax assistance" with any kind of clarity. For example, should we check the arithmetic as well as checking for lines left blank that we assume should be filled in? I really don't take it as a given that "the librarian knows that most people who file a Schedule C also need a Form SE." The person who waits until April 15 to fill out his or her taxes is just like the student who waits until the night before a term paper is due. We don't help by proofreading papers, do we? Maybe your staff have that kind of time, maybe they don't really care when they get home at night, but mine do. At my library, we provide tax forms and we cosponsor tax clinics that provide knowledgeable volunteers as tax preparers, but I'd draw the line and not provide "minimal assistance."

—Jim Sleeth, Dir., Steele Memorial Lib., Elmira, NY

Thanks to LJ for holding up the Delta County Public Library District as a paragon of rural library service (John Berry, "Dawn in Delta County ," LJ 3/1/02). Sadly, the Delta County Public Library District does not represent the norm in our country for rural library service. Most rural libraries serve a single, small community, they do not have their own dedicated funding, and they lack professional leadership. As a result, they tend to be open limited hours, have poor collections, and provide very limited services.

It is clear to me that these libraries may not survive in the 21st century. the Delta County Public Library District sounds like a model of excellent rural library service in that it serves an entire county, has its own dedicated and adequate funding, and has outstanding professional leadership. I hope the LJ article is widely read and inspires more rural libraries to achieve the same transformation.

—Jim Scheppke, State Libn., Oregon State Lib., Salem

I liked your "Dawn in Delta County " article (LJ 3/1/02). You should know, however, that the Public Library Association's Public Library Data Service (PLDS) did not identify those 8,689 public libraries. That count came from "Public Libraries in the U.S., Fiscal Year l998," a report compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics based on data provided by state library agencies through the Federal State Cooperative System (FSCS) for public library data. Few libraries serving 9,999 or fewer report to PLDS, but the FSCS report captures data on all of them—thanks to the state library agencies. There are 23 sets of tables in the report. On each topic the first table gives data state-by-state, and the second table gives the same data by ten population-served ranges. For example, Table 4A lists circulation per capita as 4.4 for libraries serving one million or more and 10.1 for libraries serving fewer than 1000. The 1999 report is now on the web: www.ala.org/alaorg/ors, then click on "statistics about libraries," scroll to public libraries, and click on the 1999 report.

—Mary Jo Lynch, Dir., Office for Research & Statistics, American Library Assn., Chicago

I had to react to your review of Brendan Halpin's It Takes a Worried Man: A Memoir (LJ 1/02). The review states, "The language is graphic, which is to be expected of most 32-year-old males…." It seems that in this era of ultrasensitivity against stereotypes, such a broad assumption would be inappropriate. I can only imagine the furor if I drew a similar conclusion in print about 20-year-old women or 72-year-old grandfathers…. I work as a reference librarian (37 years old)….

—Paul Weaver, Bluffton, OH