Tom and Others:
Can I persuade you to see beyond the "Do the users
value the service enough to pay a fee?" question in this instance? I think
that question assumes that the individuals in question have "disposable income"
that is available for that kind of discretion. I think that is a very good
question for a business (profit or non-profit for that matter) to ask, but not
for a public service like the library.
In my experience working with low income folks
struggling to make ends meet and improve their quality of life, city services
like the parks and rec centers and the library have been essential to that
goal. These services are the difference between "opportunity" and
"oppression" for our citizens. I think this is why this issue in Salinas has
drawn so much attention--it demonstrates an erosion of what we think of as our
"land of opportunity." Just my two cents.
Kathy Seifert
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 10:23
AM
Subject: RE: [Winona] No New Taxes
[Winona Online Democracy]
User
fees are a very acceptable way to charge the people who use the
service,
The problem is do any of the users
value the service enough to pay a fee.
Also,
what do our taxes go for if not the Library. How many people use the Library? If user fees will not pay for it and our tax
dollars don�t cover it, then we should do a need
assessment.
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
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 8:08
AM
To: Online
Democracy
Subject: Re:
[Winona] No New Taxes
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
newsSteinbeck'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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