The analysis is correct – but Picard is correct in that the taxes that go towards funding the public library are a tiny, tiny amount – no where near the $1200 figure (and I think that’s a conservative estimate.)

I also appreciate the comment about libraries being an experience. We just started showing movies at my library; and an elderly woman commented that she is so glad – the reason is that her husband recently passed away, so she is lonely. She hates going to the movies alone, so coming to the library is a great, social experience for her.

My public library serves a relatively small community that is fairly affluent, but our usage is up almost 20% from last year, and 50% from 2 years ago. Most libraries are experiencing the same thing.

I appreciate your insurance comparison. Unfortunately, we librarians are not doing a good enough job advertising what we do and reminding the community of our importance. Our users know it, but it’s the people like the guy in Oak Brook we have to worry about. They’re loud and they get heard.

This is so beautifully said! Wonderful commentary. Thanks as always for your insight.

tylerenfield.blogspot.com

It’s always been a tough job market – I’ve been writing that for ages. It was hard 30 years ago and I had to move to a place I wasn’t interested in. That said, I’ve enjoyed it immensely, did make some decent $$ when I got a corporate job and have had the good fortune to move into low-paying academia.

It’s a buyer’s market – we got nearly 30 applicants for one job. Most of the resumes were from people who had never worked in a library and had online degrees.

The ONLY people who should be getting a library degree nowadays are people who meet the following criteria:
1. already have a job where the degree would be helpful
2. that job is located in a city with a college that offers an MLIS program
2. the job provides tuition reimbursement.

Kids, if you don’t meet the three criteria above, DON’T DO IT.

DO NOT take out $40,000 in student loans to get a library degree.

DO NOT pay for out of state tuition to get a library degree, online or otherwise.

DO NOT pursue a library degree if you haven’t already worked in a library, or if you aren’t working in one right now.

DO NOT pay any of your own money to get this degree.

That said, if you are already working somewhere, enjoy the work, and there is a decent school nearby, and your work will pay for it, then by all means, go for it.

There must be about a dozen or so people nationwide who meet these criteria. That wouldn’t be enough folks to keep all the library school professors out there employed, however.

Mostly I read non-fiction. Maybe six titles in the last few months, it would have cost maybe $100 or $200 if I’d bought them. That’s a significant barrier compared with browsing a section and getting something relevant to whatever current events, history, or science you happen to want to know more about.

I see the importance of libraries in educating the public, and as repositories for accumulated knowledge (e.g. newspaper archives). They serve an important function in any democracy. It’s perverse to ask a citizen to spend hundreds of dollars of their own money to read about stuff that’s happening when their vote affects others besides themselves. It’s hard enough to get people to read a book when it’s free.

The romance and the DVDs and all the rest of that stuff, it’s nice and everything. Especially if it gets more people in the doors. But we shouldn’t be placed in a position of defending a library when people are getting their romances and DVDs elsewhere. The core mission is important enough that the usage of romances and DVDs shouldn’t come into the decision.

And I met two people this week who are considering the online degree from UNT. Don’t do it!!!!!

A library is not just a place that houses books and DVDs for people to rent, has public computers for the to use, or is a place to find information. It is also a place to get away from the normal distractions that a person has elsewhere; for instance, I cannot study at my computer at home, although I wish I could. There are too many distractions that keep me from focusing on my work. I know some people can focus at home, but for me I would rather not “go home” to work. The library provides a work environment for me to feel less distracted and I know I won’t go home until my work is done.

A library also serves as a center for the community. While you can also interact with people online, there is something to be said for the discussion and connection you have in person, whether working as a study group or checking out the latest baseball statistics.

Most people may not realize this about the library, but the experience it affords is different than that of NetFlix, wikipedia, or Barnes and Noble. For one thing, it’s nice that we aren’t constantly trying to sell you something. I like the fact that I am a librarian, not a car dealer, and people definitely respond to you differently in that light.

So while it is true that people can definitely receive the same access to information and documents elsewhere, there is more to us than is so neatly summarized by a fifth-grade observation.

Finally, this same argument about “no one needs libraries now that the Internet is here” has been paraded by magazines and newspapers for almost two decades now. The “obsolescence” of the library. Does anyone else see the irony in the fact that this comes while newspapers and magazines are shutting down from lack of subscribers and we (at least my library) has only ever had more circulation, patrons with active library accounts, and programming. Perhaps we need to stop heeding their advice.