Editor:
There ain’t no free lunch. Someone pays.
But, of course, there are those who want free lunch, regardless of their financial means. In the guise of being ensured “universal access to materials for lifelong learning” (via the public library system), they would have the taxpayer provide free lunch to all – which really means to them, the users.
As for library membership dropping off when fees are implemented (such as in Banff), there are people who are just plain cheap. There are very few who cannot afford $12 a year. Membership dropped off not because folks couldn’t afford a dollar a month, but because it was no longer free. Understand this. Free lunch – many thrive on it.
Seriously, take a closer look at the library user profile if you will. And if libraries are free to folks in North America – “except Alberta and parts of Quebec” – then the poor in these jurisdictions should be lined up at the doors of these free establishments to soak up the book learnin’. Golly gee, yes.
Further, public libraries – unlike fire departments and hospitals and schools – are not in the category of essential services; they are a “nice to have,” perhaps even a “really nice to have.”
Further to the further, we could all access lifelong learning and education quite adequately – if we had to – without them through alternate avenues such as our school systems and universities (who have libraries), educational television programming, computers (online newspapers, online education in general) and, God forbid, actual entrepreneurial book stores and book vendors (the latter who assume the financial risk). But alas alack; the old story from some: privatize the profits and socialize the losses.
I consider myself to be a “literate, educated, well-informed” person despite minimal usage of the public library system(s) over my many years on this planet (Although I did access our public library in 1956 to write an essay about Joan of Arc, hence, contributing to my vast knowledge base at the time).
I stand firmly by my original premise that the user(s) should pay (a reasonable sum) to sustain public libraries. Especially during these current economic times when government funding to public libraries could be and should be punted, in part, to hospitals, schools, and fire departments. And seniors should pay more than $3 a year for a library membership in Canmore.
Verna Korkie,
Canmore
