What
Carnegie might say is that he would give more money to fund the Library or
Those that use it fund it. I
myself like a Library and like it free to all, but why should someone else pay for
my enjoyment and education.
Carnegie
was also a capitalist who would probably see the merit in charging since the government
could not afford it..
Thanks Tom
Tom Severson
Box 736
Winona, Mn. 55987
507 452 3402 ext 214
-----Original
Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf
Of Ruth Charles
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004
9:03 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED];
Democracy On-Line
Subject: Re: [Winona] No New Taxes
The
problem with adding a fee is that it creates a two tiered system for what is to
be a “Public” library. Everyone should have equal access to a library,
regardless of their income. We lose our universal access to this service
by adding a fee and become selective into who can and cannot have access.
Adding a fee would stop many people from using a
service that is there to assist all of our community members. TAXES ARE
GOOD! They level the field out and build equality.
I can’t imagine what Carnegie would originally funded
all of these PUBLIC libraries would think!
--Ruth Charles
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 08:08:04
-0600
To: "Online Democracy"
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Winona] No New Taxes
[Winona Online
Democracy]
While no
one wants more taxes, I have suggested before that those of us who are able pay
a library fee each year. Even at 2.00 a month that is only 24.00 a year to use
our library. (which I do on a regular basis). I would pay a fee to have
my library card and to those in the community who cannot afford to pay a fee
would either get theirs at a reduced rate or perhaps through whatever funds the
library uses now?
Just a thought. I cannot* imagine not being able to go to the library.
Linda Fort
[Winona Online Democracy]
Is
this the specter of the future for our community and state if people
continue to believe that having a few more cents in their pockets is more
important than having more sense in their minds?
I encourage you to read the attached article from today's Strib and
consider if we are currently on this very very path that Salinas, CA
finds itself. We are already experiencing reduced services from our
exemplary public library, and of course I worry about the quality of
education we will be providing to our children in the public school
system. This is not meant to provoke argument, but thought. Are we as a
society abandoning the very public institutions that have made this a
great state/country? I just finished listening to an hour of the late
Elmer L. Andersen on public radio and realized that we are turning away
from his philosophy of public investment. I am a lifelong advocate of
libraries and education, and I worry that both are increasingly
considered expendable. In addition, if Salinas is successful in finding a
corporate sponsor, how will that affect the diversity of books and
resources that the library can offer?
Vicki Englich
Vu
This news
Steinbeck's hometown to close all
its libraries
Rachel Konrad, Associated Press
December 28, 2004
STEIN1228
SALINAS, CALIF. -- Mary Jean Gamble organized the John Steinbeck
historical archives, supervised the Steinbeck literature collection and
ranks as an authority on Salinas history and genealogy.
After nearly 23 years with the Salinas Public Library, she may know more
about the "Grapes of Wrath" or "Cannery Row" than
anyone else in the author's hometown.
So how would Steinbeck have reacted to the news that the cash-strapped
city is closing its libraries in the spring?
"He'd obviously be upset. He knew that literature can lift and
elevate the spirit and enable humans to rise above any situation,"
Gamble said.
Facing record deficits, the City Council voted Dec. 14 to shut all three
of Salinas' libraries, including the branches named after Steinbeck and
labor leader Cesar Chavez. The blue-collar town of 150,000 could become
the most populous U.S. city without a public library.
Salinas, nicknamed "salad bowl to the nation" for the lettuce
and broccoli fields nearby, is the 1902 birthplace of the Nobel
Prize-winning author of "Cannery Row" and "Of Mice and
Men." Steinbeck, who died in 1968, described the region as
"pastures of heaven" and memorialized Salinas in his 1952 novel
"East of Eden."
But after voters Nov. 2 rejected a half-cent increase in the sales tax to
preserve city services, Salinas has drawn the scorn of bibliophiles
around the world. Editorials in newspapers from New Zealand to London
have condemned the closings.
"It's embarrassing, not to mention inconvenient," said Ben Lopez,
69, who visits the Steinbeck branch at least twice a week. "Where
else will I go to check out material -- Prunedale?" he said,
referring to a relatively spartan branch of the Monterey County Free
Libraries system.
Because of Salinas' large number of poor farm workers and immigrants, the
city's libraries are popular destinations for people seeking citizenship
primers, literacy courses, English-as-a-second language tapes, Internet
access and after-school programs. Roughly 1,900 people visit each day.
"The reality is that we live in a blue-collar community where people
are struggling, and they're afraid of new taxes," Mayor Anna
Caballero said.
Salinas is not alone. More than 1,100 libraries nationwide have cut hours
or staff.
All three branches in Salinas are set to close by May or June.
Some residents are hoping a private donor will rescue the library. And
librarians are considering seeking corporate sponsorship.
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