10th Dec 2004
Old news, but pertinent all the same
Librarians aren’t the only ones noticing the public library crisis in our country:
The Decline and Fall of America Continues
[c/o Not too late to change the name 26 nov '04]
What neither of the articles I’ve read mentioned is that perhaps the poor, hard-workign adults of Salinas failed to see the library as part of their (and others’) children’s education. Got a small, overcrowded house? You do your homework at the library, if you do it at all. Got a crappy school system? You supplement it with books from the library (based on my admittedly limited experience with the students, parents, and alumni of the deeply troubled LA schools). Can’t afford a computer? Go to the library. Unemployed? Read want ads and job sites at the library. In short, as much good as public libraries do the middle class — and that’s a lot — they do exponentially more for the poor.
I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but damn.
Because my friend Jen is wicked smaht.
Librarians aren’t the only ones noticing the public library crisis in our country:
The Decline and Fall of America Continues
[c/o Not too late to change the name 26 nov '04]
What neither of the articles I’ve read mentioned is that perhaps the poor, hard-workign adults of Salinas failed to see the library as part of their (and others’) children’s education. Got a small, overcrowded house? You do your homework at the library, if you do it at all. Got a crappy school system? You supplement it with books from the library (based on my admittedly limited experience with the students, parents, and alumni of the deeply troubled LA schools). Can’t afford a computer? Go to the library. Unemployed? Read want ads and job sites at the library. In short, as much good as public libraries do the middle class — and that’s a lot — they do exponentially more for the poor.
I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but damn.
Because my friend Jen is wicked smaht.
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