Melissa Brewer

                                                                                                                                Blog Post for 4/17, 2012

The Economic Impact of Libraries in Indiana, by KSOB Business Research Center

This article has been created by our own KSOB Research Center, which I love to see reference to our own school and practices we have studies in class.  I actually just found it very interesting to browse through this article and notice the statistics that you sometimes take for granted and don’t think about.  The importance of the public library in the community is for sure supported by the outcome in this article.  And how nice to see libraries generate > $67.7 million and provide 537 jobs in Indiana!

Indiana Tax Cuts Hurt PLs by Blumenstein

This article is addressing like several services the impact of lower taxes….resulting in lower operating funds being allocated each year.  I did pay particular attention to the book mobile being downsized to a mini-van with less staff….a discussion we have held in class a few times.  Even though we all understand there are hard decisions and many cuts and closings…I must say I was surprised to see the section where the Memphis Mayor wanted to close 5 of their 19 branches. I know when we did our budget assignment….I think we felt bad at the thought of closing …any…branches and how that would affect services for the community….but this is really a large and hard decision for so many locations and people who will be touched in different ways.

The Case for Consolidation by Amdursky

This article had a very vocal political opinion…and feels control at the local level is just making current problems even worse such as the poor population and political party unjust.  The example provided at Kalamazoo was for sure an extreme and unusual situation.  I could not believe how people would choose not to live in this location…which is very common act for people buying homes and looking at the school system their children would attend.  I paid attention when information was being given about libraries merging….and this would cut down on the number of Library Director positions available…. Which I know less direction is not usually a good thing.  The one highlight I marked while was reading…was the point on page 40 of how cutting down on the number of libraries and merging would support the ability to have uniform policy for the library system….which I think is something that would most times be beneficial.  I know we talked about how it can be difficult for patrons to keep track of different systems and their rules making sure not to suffer penalties due to confusing their policies.  But what really stood out for me was the closing about how regional libraries with independent revenue and boards will find their contribution to the community to be “only limited by their imagination and creativity.”  I would have thought they would have increased measures and desire to participate in these activities….but I guess I understand you miss out on some of that collaboration and partnership that keeps you giving?