In a passionate, must-read editorial from March 2005, William Ecenbarger calls the state of public library funding a “national calamity”. The author attributes root cause to “a kind of indifference bordering on neglect on the part of library patrons, and a kind of neglect bordering on negligence on the part of public officials“. I don’t see it this way in 2009.
Libraries have been so ubiquitious and beloved throughout our history that we haven’t needed to advocate for them the way we do today. We’re still learning how to do it. Our communications can too often be general, verbose or focused more on increasing the love than increasing the money. Even the newest campaigns mince the message and do not posit alternatives or calls to action except the tired old “contact your local officials and have your friends do the same.” Well guess what? Folks all across America are doing this, and we’re eating soup with a fork.
Today the calamity is bigger than patrons and public officials. It has to do with civic and economic devolution over the past 30 years and the resulting corrosion of our public institutions. It’s also about a staunch reliance on public library systems that were established early in our nation’s history and may no longer fit with needs and resources.
Its time to begin re-imagining how we organize and fund our public library systems, before it’s too late.
