City to Consider Budget Reduction Options for Library System
At tomorrow’s Council study sessions and meeting (Tuesday, October 9), the Library board will discuss ways to meet the budget reductions proposed in City Manager Eric Anderson’s budget. Branch closures seem inevitable. Read the details in the TNT story here.
Ah, libraries.
We lost the Library of Alexandria, which probably wasn’t that big of a deal to anyone but Carl Sagan and the ghost of Euclid. And with contentious governments (like those of China, the U.S. and Iran, which are clearly run by hyper-literate technological luminaries) bickering about monumental information control issues, the future of the internet seems absolutely certain and secure. In fact, preservation of human knowledge has never seemed more delightfully valued than in our present decade. I’m trying to think of a word that means the opposite of tenuous. I suppose I could find it at the library.
There are still options to consider. The library board does not want to close branches, and surely it does not relish the thought of diminishing services. Even when the economy was thriving, local libraries faced seriously inclement circumstances and significant reduction in hours of operation. Do you have an idea that could be part of the solution? Do you value the Tacoma library system?
Sometimes, when considering the “big picture” issues of fiscal appropriations, taxpayers must also consider the “big picture” issues of the preservation of knowledge. While it would be a bit hysterical to assert that the essence of our culture is at stake, we must remember that such things rarely disappear all at once. They slip away by reasonable increments or accidents.
The Tacoma public library is an excellent resource for our citizens. Visit the website here. In fact, tomorrow, you are invited to attend a free class on genealogy research at the Main Library in the Pacific Room (event details here). Or perhaps you have youngsters who might find group story time enjoyable. Or maybe you would like to meet with Jack Nisbet, author of The Collector, and talk with him about botany and its history in the Northwest. Visit the events page here for all of those things, and more.
Filed under: Libraries
9 comments
R RR Anderson November 8, 2010
In the future, you’ll be able to read TACOMIC Book volume 001 in the main branch of the Tacoma Public Library. 3 copies will be stored in the Northwest room. Was it Kurt Vonnegut that said libraries are the last line of defense for a legitimate democracy? Well he was right.
D Dan November 8, 2010
Daniel Rahe endorses the above comment.
J jamie from thriceallamerican November 9, 2010
Apropos of nothing other than the previous comments…
- Kurt Vonnegut, “A Man Without a Country”
P Pegsterdtown November 9, 2010
The 2 comments above are prove positive that libraries are very important indeed.
T Tim November 9, 2010
Libraries are something that only governments can support and part of the infrastructure which made America great.
Like all infrastructure projects (electricity, rail, highways, airports, internet, etc) Libraries were and could once again could be a generator of vast wealth.
L low bar November 9, 2010
is it just me, or has the internet killed the library star (an not some retard tacoma bureaucrat? just a thought..
oh but then that would make the partons of said new information system, the internet, (as in the patrons of this blog), accessories to the crime.
fuk the tacoma library. if i need to know the truth about something, i’ll just refer to something rahe writes.
R RR Anderson November 9, 2010
Low Bar, how would exit133 readers like your hero Mofo from the Hood access this Rahe of Truth without a library internet connection ?
P PointDexter November 9, 2010
If.things.get.worse.Ill.convert.my.Toyota.Previa.van.into.a.bookmobile.
L low bar November 10, 2010
stick.that.anecdotal.blogger.rahe.in.the.city.hall.tower.with.a.megaphone
no.really