Mini Linkspam

[erstwhiletexan]

"Someday the books will tumble from the shelves at the Bodleian and there will be no one to replace them." -- I am not going to lie: James Griffioen's Story of the Detroit Public Schools Book Depository made me cry. As an assistant librarian and proto-archivist I can see books and the funding for books being discarded all around me -- Texas

Comments

[thez]

My heart weeps for Texas. The whole budget fiasco is aaaaawful. Kayli and her new hubby both work for the library and are both fretting about their jobs. :(

[erstwhiletexan]

Yeah, I am extremely grateful that my position is self-funding even if I am on a year-by-year renewal -- meaning if the program I administer brings in enough money to cover my salary, I get to stay. Although several of my librarians are being made to retire this year and it is very unlikely we will be able to replace them and that makes me extra sad. :(

I did not know Kayli was in Texas! ... wait, did I? Maybe I did. I wish I could say "I'm sure they will be fine" but I can't because all I can see is doom and gloom and waugh. :(

[windofderange]

I have to admit, I keep going back and forth about what I think about this. On the one hand, I like libraries, and think they should exist. On the other hand, academically I know how recent the idea of a public library is. The things I study are all about libraries (and books, and information more generally) as being elite and exclusive. It's a really big deal to the Muslims that the author al-Jahiz was crushed by a shelf in his library, because it meant he had enough books to crush him.

Now we're in a world in which information can be free, and I can't help but wonder if books just aren't the best way of transmitting information. They're wonderful and I love them, but they're also bulky, heavy, expensive, flammable and lacking in all of things we've all gotten used to from the internet, like ctrl-f (God, how I wish books came with ctrl-f. Would save me SO MUCH TIME!).

But I just keep going back to 'but the libraries! I loves them!!'

[erstwhiletexan]

See, if I thought there was any rational reasoning behind stripping away funding from libraries I might be persuaded to accept the inevitable with more grace -- the problem is that the Republicans only recognize that this is an easy win. They're devastating the education budget in Texas as well and there are far more people that will actively hurt, so libraries are easy to screw because only librarians will stick up for them. :(

[windofderange]

Yeah, I feel the same way about the library cuts the Tories are making - if I thought this was a temporary cut because there is such a shortage of funds right now, that'd be great. But I just don't trust them to reopen the libraries when times get better.