The December 21, 2008 issue of Parade magazine carried a brief article in its IntelligenceReport section on the dire straits of public libraries in Philadelphia and San Diego.  The article quoted ALA president Jim Rettig asserting that “the top reasons people come to libraries to use computers are for K-12 education and job hunting.”  Well, probably not the top reasons (email, goods and services) but surely near the top.

According to some unnamed study in the article, a family of four could save as much as $2,500 a year by borrowing ten library items per month instead of purchasing them.  I invite you to calculate your library savings or your potential library savings by using the Maine State Library’s Library Use Value Calculator.  Even moderate library use would net you more than the $2,500 quoted in the article.  People can see the wide range of materials and services that libraries offer when they use the Calculator.  It’s a great bit of library promotion in terms of dollars and sense and libraries everywhere should be marketing this gadget.

OK, back to those libraries shutting down.  The Friends of the Free Library of Philadelphia have a web page where people can donate as little as $10 to keep open the 11 libraries scheduled to be closed.  This is a warm and fuzzy gesture but get real people!  It probably costs at least $200,000 to keep a decent branch library open in Philadelphia.  Sure, you could do it for less but people and utilities need to be paid if a branch stays open a minimum of 20 hours per week and 20 hours isn’t what I would call full-service.  What about money for materials?  Computer maintenance?  Supplies?

For libraries to have value they need to be valued.  It costs money to offer library services to the public and kind-hearted donations will not cover the tab.