Vote
of Confidence
This article showcases a reason to be
positive about public libraries in America. The author states that despite a
potentially hostile political climate, many libraries are receiving the funds
that they need to stay afloat through savvy campaigns in their communities. I
liked that this article highlighted funding success stories for libraries as
well as the need for crafting campaigns that emphasize the importance of
libraries to voters. I did not, however, agree with the author regarding the
power of the TEA Party. In my opinion, much of the seeming power of the TEA
Party came from the very extensive media coverage given to it and not to its
actual power on the ground. Given that the country is in a recession, it would
make sense from (some) lawmakers perspectives to refuse to grant funds out to
public libraries.
Bottoming
Out?
Michael Kelley’s article outlines the
budget cutting and wrangling that has happened in the last several years due to
the decrease of funding. I liked this article better than Dempsey’s because it
demonstrated the probable factors for why the library budgets were cut.
Unfortunately for many libraries, the elected officials in their communities
see them as a low priority. From their perspective, then, it is okay to cut
budgets or at least not augment existing ones. According to Kelley in New York
City “three library systems saw their FY11 budgets cut a collective $16.5
million in mid-fiscal year in part because the city had to begin taking steps
to replace $853 million of expiring federal stimulus funding” (30). Popular
anti-tax sentiment may have something to do with budget cuts, but it makes more
sense for campaigns to defend funding to focus on holding elected officials
accountable for public needs.
Performing
triage on budgets in the R*E*D
This article details a number of ways
how to make up for budget shortfalls in public libraries. While the author
offers up many good suggestions as to how to procure more funds for the
library, the article is somewhat dated. For example, he proposes using “impact
fees” to obtain funds for a library (39). Newly constructed homes would have
this fee added onto their price when purchased. This article was written in the
middle of a housing boom which has since collapsed. Thus, many locales may not
have much opportunity to obtain this type of funding. Perhaps the author can
revise this article in order to make it more relevant for librarians today.
You make a good point about the collapse of the housing boom leading to less impact fee funding. I didn't even think about that. I thought the rest of the suggestions were still very relevant to libraries today, if somewhat on accident. The recent Occupy movement has reignited interest in political protest, so the author's point about having community political support still stands.
ReplyDeleteI too was surprised to read about the TEA Party in a library article. Even if most of their power came from media, it is still a type of power and it has influenced many people, some that are even in positions in local and state governments. Just goes to show that libraries have to be aware of what is going on everywhere so they can predict where the next punch will land (regardless of whether it was intentional or not.)
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