Comments on: A Philadelphia Story

By: Donovan McNabb

Donovan McNabb — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 06:42:56 +0000

If the darn Eagles would just pay their taxes, then the libraries would be fine. I would include the link but LJ gets all hinky when you start putting stuff into the comments section. You’re librarians, go look it up.

By: Tyrone From Detroit

Tyrone From Detroit — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:00:12 +0000

How the hell does Philly have 54 branches? Detroit is a similar city and it has about 20 or so. 20 bucks says Detroit closes half of it branches in the next year with the collapse of the local economy. Fun stuff considering Wayne State University keeps rolling out LIS graduates like an assembly line.

By: Mr. Kat

Mr. Kat — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:11:00 +0000

….

Mr. Kat does not know Philadelphia, has no interest in Phillie to this level of detail, and is not offering up the previous comment. Mr. Kat asks the imposter to respectfully get their own handle because this is ridiculous. What is worse is whoever you have, you have put up a really nice post with good points – why hide like this?.

By: Mr. Kat

Mr. Kat — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:18:13 +0000

To get the FULL story in Philly, you have to look at the numbers. The cuts tend to apply to libraries with SMALLER circulations. The 11 proposed closings, however, do not represent the 11 smallest libraries (just four of the smallest 11 are on the chopping block). Some of the libraries in jeopardy have relatively HIGH circulation rates.

The cuts are pretty well-spread along INCOME levels, but sorting by family poverty levels shows that the areas with highest and lowest POVERTY rates have been spared library cuts, while areas in between seem to bear the burden.

Looking at a map of the proposed closings, they appear to be fairly evenly distributed around the city. But sort by COUNCIL district, and the spread could be seen as POLITICAL as much as geographic. The 11 libraries are represented by eight Council districts; no Council district would take more than two cuts.

It's politics as usual in Philly and the public librarians don't have the GUTS to do anything about it.

By: soren faust

soren faust — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 13:01:06 +0000

Well, be that the case, concerning politics, I like this line from (old) Aerosmith: “Man has known it, now he’s blown it; upside down and hell’s the only sound; he did an awful job and it’s a little too late.”

You and I have a stark difference in our views of humanity’s capacity to consistently govern things in such a manner that equity is a reality and no one falls into the temptation of serving one’s self. Probably one day in the future things will change in Philadelphia, maybe Philadelphians will become sick and tired of the same old thing. Whatever the case, if and when it happens it just wouldn’t surprise me if in the end chaos stuck out it’s ugly head once again and we have politics as usual. That’s pretty much my take on politics: but don’t call me a defeatist, just your neighborhood realist.

By: jmo, mls

jmo, mls — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:54:32 +0000

*jmo, I concede this debate. At the same time, it is not because and only because, they are democrats.*

It’s not really a debate. I don’t understand why the irony is so difficult to grasp here: the ALA promotes one party above all others and encourages their members to vote for that party. That same party screwed some library employees pretty royally here–well, they have been screwing them for years if you look at state and local funding in PA for libraries. So some folks voted for their own extinction many, many times in Philadelphia. Will being unemployed affect their voting behavior in the future? Probably not.

By: soren faust

soren faust — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:34:12 +0000

jmo, I concede this debate. I know very little about Philly politics and know of no other city laying off librarians in such great numbers. I have no doubt that the current administration has made poor decisions that have led to this situation concering the closings of branches and layoffs of librarians. At the same time, it is not because and only because, they are democrats. At least, I have a hard time believing that simply due to the fact that there are other areas of the coutry that probably have democratic dominant administrations and we’ve yet to hear anything about masses of librarians being laid off elsewhere. It just gets tiresome to hear people reduce to, what probably amounts to a complex set of variables, a one variable scenario when it comes to running something as complex as a city or any large organization/institution for that matter.

By: jmo, mls

jmo, mls — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:55:56 +0000

*Philadelphia is not the only city in this country that is dealing with political issues.*

Oh, btw, Soren…where are these other cities “dealing with political issues” that include mass firings of librarians? Besides, Wauwautosa, Wisc., or wherever that place was last year?

By: jmo, mls

jmo, mls — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:52:53 +0000

*and someone else asks, “Who do you suggest we blame?” To that I say “***K blame.” I’m with SF here. It doesn’t really matter how we got here. What matters is how do we get out. *

Well, “we” could start by not listening to the editorial board of Library Journal and their associated goon squad(s). If we were to follow their path to one-party state-sponsored paradise as represented by the Philadelphia “experiment” over the last 50 years, we’ll all end up in a soup line.

By: Jomama

Jomama — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:38:58 +0000

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