The loss of libraries and access

As we all can attest, not having a library is very devastating. Here in Indiana, there are a number of communities where one cannot be found. But what about our state libraries? Are they any safer? The answer is no. In listening to The Genealogy Guys Podcast (yes, I said podcast), of March 26th (http://genealogyguys.com/index.php?post_id=598721), I have learned some disquieting news from around the country.

If you take a look at the State of Michigan website (www.michigan.gov) you will see that there is no longer a Department of History, Arts, and Libraries. The Board of Trustees of the library and the Michigan Library itself now fall under the Department of Education. The position of State Librarian has been abolished. You can access and read the Executive Order by going to the state website, type 'Library of Michigan' in the search area, and then click on Michigan Department of History, Arts, and Libraries. You will see the link to the Order under "Michigan says farewell to the Department of History, Arts, and Libraries". For now, the collection will stay where it is, but there will be some losses of jobs and other things. And that is only the beginning.

In New Jersey, there is a possibility that the New Jersey State Library and the Thomas Edison State College will be merged under the New Jersey State Museum governed by Rutgers University beginning July 1, 2010. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg County (NC) Library system announced a closure of 13 branches. That is an awful lot of libraries in an awful lot of communities. Because of the community outcry, these branches will not be closed, but the hours will be cut as well as jobs. In Florida, the legislature is considering the elimination of more that $22 million in aid to libraries. And then in Massachusetts (this isn't about libraries but access to records) there is a senate bill recommending the closure of access to all vital records after 1841.

That is a lot to take in. And what makes it worse is that I know I am a part of the funding problem. Why? Well, I have not replaced the job I lost more than a year ago. I am working a temporary part-time job right now, but I am not paying the taxes I had been paying and I am not purchasing much of anything. And I am only one. I know it is not my fault, but it is still very difficult to read about these things. It is times like this that I wish I had millions to spend.

But what is also just as frustrating is that the government keeps telling us to volunteer. Now, I don't mind volunteering. FYI - I have been a volunteer at the Indiana State Library for a year now and truly enjoy it. But I can't make a living on volunteering. And if libraries need a lot of volunteers, what is that saying? There are a few of us SLIS students who are current volunteers in the Library Development Office of the State Library. We 'work' for a woman who is the Digital Initiatives Librarian for the entire state. Do you know the size of her staff? One. Just one person overseeing the entire state. Connie has more projects on her plate than the White House has eating utensils (and we all know how many people are invited to all those dinners). She travels the state and trains librarians on digitizing as well. I can't even do justice to all the things she has going on. I have yet to see her take a lunch break and from what I am told, she is the first one there (in that office) and the last one out the door. When I saw her Thursday, I learned she would most likely be working this weekend - a three day weekend for the state employees. And they haven't had a raise in three years!

What are we coming to? What does this say about our society? And where are we going? As Barbara Tuchman once said "Nothing sickens me more than the closed door of a library." Though nothing has happened yet with our own state library, there have been times when the hours were reduced to Monday-Friday, 8:00 - 4:30. And what makes things worse is that because it is a state library, foundations are not allowed. Yet, it is to offer services to the entire state, to every single one of us if we so choose.

Lady Bird Johnson once said, "Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest." But one of my favorite quotes is from John Bright 11/16/1811 - 3/27/1889, a British orator, Quaker, and statesman. Now before you read this, PLEASE understand that, 1) Bright was a product of his time, and 2) when he says 'men', I include women. So if you do those two things, you might like this quote: "What is a great love of books? It is something like a personal introduction to the great and good men of all past times. Books, it is true, are silent as you see them on the shelves; but, silent as they are, when I enter a library I feel as if almost the dead were present, and I know if I put questions to these books they will answer me with all the faithfulness and fullness which has been left in them by the great men who have left the books with us."

Well, I have rambled long enough about the sad news in the podcast. I suppose the question to be answered is if a library near any of us was proposed for closure, what would we be willing to do to stop it? To what lengths are we willing to travel and who we will take with us? And even if it isn't proposed for closure, what are we willing to do to make it the best? The funny thing about my volunteer experience is that I have been turned away by two libraries that keep saying they need volunteers. That is how I landed at the state library. But perhaps I need to go back and see if I can't convince them that they need me. Lord knows I haven't been able to land a library job, and trust me when I say I am better off in an Indiana Room, the state library, or the archives. Or should I say the patrons would be better off if I am in one of those places. Anyway, just food for thought.