Libraries: it’s all about opportunity

Some of our local libraries are in trouble.

As noted in an article in our November 22 issue, in Wayne County, per capita county funding for the public library, at $4.21, falls 79 cents short of the level that would trigger additional state funding. The current county contribution compares to a $15.41 per capita average for the state.

To be sure, the median income in Wayne is also below the state average: $34,082 compared to $40,106 in the 2000 census. One could argue that libraries are just not a priority for a poor area—especially in a high-tech age when the Internet, which allows us to access a seemingly limitless pool of information, is replacing old-fashioned books. Perhaps even 79 cents is too much to pay for something obsolete.

There are a couple of problems with this reasoning. Most obviously, not everybody in this area has Internet access, and many of those that do, do not have broadband, which has become increasingly necessary as websites are loaded up with sophisticated and bandwidth-hogging bells and whistles. In fact, the bulk of valuable research information is provided in the form of PDFs, which are painfully slow to download on a dialup connection.

And libraries nowadays provide not only books and periodicals, but broadband Internet access. In fact, as noted in the November 22 article, library advocate Cindy Smith has requested funds that will allow the Wayne County Public Library to purchase 15 more computers that may be used by the general public, many of whom otherwise would not have such resources. Thus, the fact that this is a relatively low-income area means that it needs libraries more, not less.

But we would also contest the idea that books are obsolete. Books provide a depth and detail of information and analysis far greater than that available on the Internet, which specializes in small chunks of quickly read information that is necessarily limited in scope. Although, as noted, lengthy documents have become increasingly available on line in the form of PDFs, most people find reading these difficult on line. To be read with ease, they need to be printed out, just like a book—or a print version needs to be located in a library. Various e-readers have recently been introduced that may eventually solve the problem of making digital data readable—but only for those who can afford them.

Libraries have always been essential to democracy because they are all about equality of opportunity. As long as people can access books (and now the Internet) without having to pay, they can educate themselves. They can learn about anything they are interested in, or that may further their careers, and expand their horizons beyond what may be available in the schools. The richer this resource is, the more opportunity will thrive for one and all, regardless of economic status. Isn’t that the American way?

This has been called the “information age,” and localities and nations that do not remember that may be fated to be left behind. If we want a well-educated public with the maximum possible access to information and complete equality of opportunity, we need our libraries. In an era in which, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, income inequality has reached a record high, we need them now more than ever. And we need them most in lower-income areas like our own. Means must be found to finance them, whether it is agitating for more federal and state funding or finding a way to come up with the funds locally. Short-changing our libraries might just turn out to be the costliest thing we can do—a lot more costly than 79 cents a head.

Dr. Punnybone

Silent Knight