historymike,
Maybe the affected libraries could make the cutbacks in the easy and readily available access to the Internet porn sites ;-)
That was my first thought...
posted by Hooda_Thunkit at 12:52 P.M. EST on Mon Apr 11, 2005 #
Hey, the homeless have a right to free porn just like the rest of America!
Besides, if we don't give them free porn, they will be mucking up all the magazines at the local adult bookstores.
posted by historymike at 03:27 P.M. EST on Mon Apr 11, 2005 #
You know, growing up poor... I was walking downtown to my public library twice a week. I was involved in reading programs on Saturdays. I was able to find books on stuff the public school would never teach me nor did they have in their measly school library. That library was my ticket to college and a better future.
Sure, working hard for good grades in school was important too, but without a good library nearby, I don't know where I'd be.
Ohio should not be cutting back on their libraries. If anything they should be expanding, pooling their resources with other states to digitize their books. They would cut costs when their collection is available online.
I can't believe that the first thing people think of our libraries is that its a place for homeless to browse porn. These places are the great equalizers for young people who want to work hard to get ahead.
posted by timault at 10:29 A.M. EST on Tue Apr 12, 2005 #
I agree about the libraries being great equalizers. About the only bright spot in my west Detroit neighborhood as a kid was the library. Thugs wouldn't get caught dead there, and I was captivated by the amount of information that was just a book away.
My old library, alas, has since been closed. Detroit has less than half of the libraries it had when I was a kid. It, however, has also lost several hundred thousand residents in the past thirty years, but the pace of library closings in Detroit has far outstripped the poulation losses.
Then there is the whole issue of library parity. Take a walk in the Sylvania branch, and then look at a branch like Birmingham or Kent. While Sylvania serves a somewhat larger population base, their services and resources dwarf city branches (except for Main). I have yet to find someone who can give me a good answer as to why suburban branches like Sylvania are jewels, while city branches suffer from neglect.
I am excepting Sanger, which serves the quasi-suburban Old Orchard-Ottawa Hills area. With the preponderance of city officials in Old Orchard, there is never a lack of money for projects in this enclave. It's also interesting that Sanger opens on Sundays, but most other branches are closed on Sundays.
posted by historymike at 12:10 P.M. EST on Tue Apr 12, 2005 #
Library funds must have been tied to Tom Noe's "lost" coins in the mail.
posted by Chaz at 02:14 P.M. EST on Tue Apr 12, 2005 #
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