Louisiana Cuts Funding to Public Libraries

If you’ve been following this blog for any amount of time, you know a frequent topic and point of discussion is the ever-dwindling supply of resources for school libraries and public libraries. 

Latest on this list is the state of Louisiana which, to meet budget demands, has decided to cut almost 1 million dollars from its public library system.  The LA administration, in its own defense, stated that local public libraries can instead be supported with local money, rather than state money. 

But, this thinking hurts rural and poorer areas of the state that may not have the ability to tax their local citizens – or to even ask them for donations. 

And although I don’t have numbers or statistics on this one, I’m going to bet that most (or all, if we’re being honest), of those rural areas can’t provide their youth with school libraries either. 

 

Check out the article at: LA eliminates state funding forlibraries.

 We all understand that during times of economic crisis, things need to be cut from the budget to preserve vital systems. States are struggling to make ends meet, school districts, counties, etc, you name it. If the state of Louisiana feels that cutting library funding is their best option, then perhaps it is. My point isn't to argue with that - I haven't even looked at their budget.

But I would like the point to be the beginning of a general discussion on how we, as Americans, aim to solve this problem. 

Students (and adults too) without books can't begin to learn and explore - both academically and, yes, for fun. How can we expect these students to grow up and become successful, go to college, know how to write intelligibly, if we never gave them books to read? I'm not talking about these boring text books that have been mass produced by curriculum companies, our "education" system, I'm talking about real books that kids want to read. 

The kinds of books that grab young students by the ears and get them interested in a genre or a type of book, that leads to them reading more books, and exploring stories and non-fiction - the kind of books that allow escape, and the kinds of books that offer a path to the future. 

 If that's not in the budget, then why not?

And what can we do to fix it? 

Are books as important as health care, as teachers, as whatever else we deem essential? Or are they lower on the totem pole? 

Is this a problem for nonprofits to solve? Should corporations be creating libraries in communities? Should Bill Gates be the next Carnegie rather than trying for about the 30th year in a row to solve malaria? (Okay, maybe a little harsh on that one!). 

My point is, whose problem is it, and who is going to solve it?