California cut state funding for libraries

Oh, my. That is awful. Awfully sad, awfully infuriating.

All I can think of is, with California's storied high taxes, what the hell do they spend their money on!? (a venting, rhetorical question)

So sad that it has come to this. I'm glad to be gone.

That's it.

I already knew I was moving out of this crappy state. This just gives me a reason to do it sooner than I had planned.

The cuts have been extremely harsh in Pennsylvania as well ... except for the multi-million dollar library being built in Philly to honor and house the memorabilia and manuscripts of a "retired" Senator.

Yup, my hubby and I left California almost two years ago as we could see this (and worse) coming. I have no idea where all the money is going but...my sister-in-law used to teach tai chi part time in adult ed and was earning....$65.00 an hour! Yes, insane when Johnny is graduating high school and still can't read.

Carlene

This happened to many libraries in MA - but in individual towns and cities. In some towns/cities the removed funds have returned. In other cases libraries banded together to share resources, creating networks of libraries in towns/cities which are geographically close to one another.

The network on the Cape is called CLAMS and I love it. I can get a copy of almost any novel I want - if my library doesn't have it, they'll truck it in from a nearby town, or even the Vineyard or Nantucket.

Awful. What are people thinking?

Makes me glad I moved out of California when I did. They are having so many financial problems it makes me wonder where lawmakers are spending all the money from taxes.

I have to be careful here, because my "radical libertarianism" (my term for it) has already got me booted from one forum.

I'll just put it this way: how many of us were demanding that our representatives plan for the lean times?

That is very sad. Libraries are essential, and often the only way some people can find books to read. Our County library has some excellent resources, including and history annex, genealogy resources, and many great programs.

It's happening all across the country, but it doesn't have to be the end of the world. It's easy to say states should keep funding libraries, but when the state is running at a huge deficit, cuts have to be made. No one wants to make cuts that affect them, and no one wants their taxes raised, even if they aren't actually paying any.

I don't know what it's like in California, but in my state. better than eighty percent of library patrons pay no taxes at all. Most of them actually get back more than they pay in, so their "fair" share amounts to less than zero. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for. Pay nothing, get nothing.

But in my city, patrons decided they were willing to pay to play, started donating their own time and money, and spent a lot of time soliciting donations from all over, and as a result, we have a library that's bigger and better than a city our size could have dreamed of before all this happened.

Most who complain don't even use pubic libraries, let alone donate time and money into keeping them open.

Jamesaritchie said:

I don't know what it's like in California, but in my state. better than eighty percent of library patrons pay no taxes at all.

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And how did you find this out?

If 80% of your library patrons are paying no taxes at all, doesn't that make the library service even more essential? I pay plenty of taxes, and if the library doesn't have what I want, I go buy it. It sounds like a huge majority of their patrons don't have that option if they can't fill their needs at a library.

Snowstorm said:

All I can think of is, with California's storied high taxes, what the hell do they spend their money on!? (a venting, rhetorical question)

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I've spent one too many California dinner parties dissecting this question.

Also, while I like supporting my local library, I wish it didn't cost fifty cents to reserve a book. Wonder if they'll bump that cost up even more now?

Jamesaritchie said:

It's happening all across the country, but it doesn't have to be the end of the world. It's easy to say states should keep funding libraries, but when the state is running at a huge deficit, cuts have to be made. No one wants to make cuts that affect them, and no one wants their taxes raised, even if they aren't actually paying any.

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Given that the very bedrock foundation of democracy is an educated and informed electorate, I'd say that the state should cut funding for highways long before they cut funding for libraries.

And... what's the matter with raising taxes? If the top 1% can only afford two yachts and five mansions, that's just too bad for them.

Or maybe just closing the tax loopholes for the top 1%. That should cover the libraries and maybe a little bit more.

PEBKAC said:

If 80% of your library patrons are paying no taxes at all, doesn't that make the library service even more essential?

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Yes. Especially given that the state legislature has repeatedly cut the library budgets of the state and community colleges, on the grounds that they could pair up with local public libraries.

A free, accessible, well-stocked library is a crucial element in freedom of the press, public education, and the long-term improvement of society for everyone.

Public libraries in California are the front-line measure with respect to free literacy education for adult learners, unenrolled teens, and ESL readers.

Public libraries are the only free public access to the Internet in California. Public libraries are the primary distribution and access point for books for the blind and visually disabled, and for the elderly and handicapped.

And I'm a former literacy volunteer, current HTML person, and life-time member of the Friends of Santa Monica library.

Can we also remember that libraries aren't just books? Books are great, obviously, and I love that they're there. But libraries have helped out a lot of people by offering computer access, internet access, programs that promote reading/literacy, academic tutoring, and more. They actually provide a lot of resources to their communities. And it might be true that a lot of library patrons don't pay taxes. So what? The poor are more likely to use the library because they're the ones most likely not to have computers, internet access, and lots of money for books, but who still need them (for education, for job hunting, etc) That's what it's there for, and I don't understand why when it comes time to find ways to save money it seems anything dedicated to helping the poor and aiding education goes first.

James D. Macdonald said:

Given that the very bedrock foundation of democracy is an educated and informed electorate, I'd say that the state should cut funding for highways long before they cut funding for libraries.

And... what's the matter with raising taxes? If the top 1% can only afford two yachts and five mansions, that's just too bad for them.

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Nobody has a right to determine who has 'enough'. Appropriating taxes in such a way is a full-on assault on individual liberty and private property--both fundamental aspects of human rights. Deciding how people should live is not a valid use of the tax system.

You could take every cent from every wealthy person in the State of California and it wouldn't solve their budget crisis, because the problem isn't taxes.

The problem is spending.

And I can think of a hundred different things California could cut before cutting libraries.

TTCleveland said:

You could take every cent from every wealthy person in the State of California and it wouldn't solve their budget crisis, because the problem isn't taxes.

The problem is spending.

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YES

TTCleveland said:

You could take every cent from every wealthy person in the State of California and it wouldn't solve their budget crisis, because the problem isn't taxes.

The problem is spending.

And I can think of a hundred different things California could cut before cutting libraries.

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QFT, bolding mine.

This isn't just a problem in California. What is it with the U.S. government spending money it doesn't have? If you live in the U.S. and want a few extra white hairs today, just look at the National Debt Clock. It's terrifying.

Jess Haines said:

This isn't just a problem in California.

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It is a much bigger problem in California.

OKay, I know that libraries are for other resources, too, but when I walk into my local library and there is a huge lounging area with comfy chairs, banks of at least forty computers, and one little teeny wall lined with books...

That isn't a library. It is an IT hub and a nap zone.

I love libraries, meaning, you know, a place for BOOKS. I mean, there are no BOOKS in my local library, anything I look up, they don't have. grrr.