LISNews: Librarian News

While I sympathize with people who want to give to the library, the public library is a public utility and is not a charity. If the library can creep along on donations from people outside the county, why pay taxes for it at all? And if the public officials can get people to contribute personally for the library to stay open, they don't have to admit that their leadership has seriously hampered the quality of life in their town. Now, the city mayor can claim that if not enough people give to keep the library open, then not enough people wanted it open in the first place. In either case, it is no longer the mayor's decision, but the decision of the people who did or did not give. Meanwhile, the mayor is off the hook.
      The money being donated to the library would be better spent, I think, in electing responsible politicians, instead of those idiots who think cutting public taxes does not mean cutting public services. If the citizens of the county didn't vote, which is most likely, or they voted for people who promised to cut taxes, then they shouldn't bitch. They get the kind of government they deserve. At that point, public libraries only become charities.