Libraries on life-support

I know that librarians do a poor job of explaining their worth to just about everyone.  I know that I am equally culpable in not making a better effort to advocate, extol, and generally proselytize the virtues of what is often viewed as a prim-and-proper relic of the past - the public library.  I promise to do better.  I am going to increase my campaigning, awareness-raising, interest-garnering activities this year, and I am starting here.

I also know that I have been ranting with increasing frequency these days at the lack of thought and foresight employed by our nation's leadership.  So part of my righteous indignation (intelligible or not) will be directed at some of the dangerously short-sighted foolishness our leaders are proposing as "prudent".

Three different articles and/or calls to action came to my attention just this morning.  The first is a great opinion piece by the author Scott Turow published on that bastion of "lefty"-ness, the Huffington Post.  Don't, however, discount the power of the article simply because of the medium.  Read it - Mr. Turow hits the nail on the head regarding the attitudes of today that are quite literally destroying the egalitarian basis of our nation.

The next article is a blog post presenting 10 "misperceptions" about public libraries.  The post is a somewhat humorous look at ways we librarians are perceived.  I think most of them are fairly commonly held and I think the list could be expanded quite easily.

The third thing that I read this morning was a call to action on a piece of federal legislation - the FY2011 Continuing Resolution.  It would seem that a Representative, Mr. Scott Garrett - R-NJ, would like to eliminate all funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) including Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).  Not only would this be disastrous for libraries, it is monumentally, colossally stupid.  Money from LSTA funds lots of library related things.  In Kansas, some federal funds provide access to databases.  Databases offered at public libraries like "Learning Express" provide practice tests for all sorts of degrees and certifications.  People who have lost their jobs often come to public libraries to get help finding new jobs.  Yet we want to cut the funding for these tools?

So, do people really still use libraries?  The answer is "yes".  My post about Kansas' State Librarian testifying before the legislature shows that.  The really sad thing is that in the grand scheme of things, libraries are cheap.  The root of all this funding nonsense gets back to the idea that librarians are terrible at letting everyone else know how many people they serve for how little.  Two rants in one week - I'd better go check my blood pressure.