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What We Lose in a Budget Cut
April 11, 2008
It's good when non-library folks hear the the nitty gritty about what's at stake when library budgets are cut, and that's just what Susan Dominus provides today in the New York Times, where she spends time in an actual library and writes about what people get there, and how much a proposed budget cut will hurt. Her description of the action at the Elmhurst branch of the Queens Library confirms that it's a community center and an essential place for play, creativity, and learning. As she puts it, libraries are "free, local, with room to roam, they’re like parks with a brain, providing education brilliantly disguised as leisure...."
The Times is asking people to comment on the services they like best from their public libraries, and the many passionate answers constitute an affirmation of librarians' efforts to connect people with good materials and with a solid sense of community. And they reinforce how critical libraries are. As one commentator (number ten) writes: "People need the public library more than ever in tough economic times. The irony, of course, is that is precisely when the cuts come; when people need it the most!"
Posted by Rebecca Miller on April 11, 2008 | Comments (1)
