As to the comments, that’s an old canard that gets dragged out every time. Why do I pay for roads I will never drive on? Or fire or police that I have never used? It’s a selfish position because it precludes the overall good that a library can provide to increase salaries and property values in the area while lowering crime rates and illiteracy. It’s a win-win, but people just look at the bill at the only means to measure it.

My biggest fear, however, is that there is a growing number of people that are arguing the library is a place for the have-nots and that the have-nots deserve what they do not have. It is scary logic. That is why libraries need to also make sure that we not only provide access to the underprivileged, but strive to provide innovative programming that successfully reaches out to the entire community. And, it would be beneficial if the programming could bring together people from all economic strata in positive ways to promote understanding and respect.

I say all of this because I live in a community that does have a high rate of poverty. The last library budget was voted down by a landslide. The newspaper article quoted people as saying, “Why should we pay for people on welfare to have Internet access so they can play games all day instead of looking for jobs.” Also, “Tax payers are sick of funding everything. If the government is cutting funds, then we should be saying no to tax increases, too.” These sorts of statements clearly illustrate that there is a disconnect between the library and the general community. They also point out that the voting community only sees the library of value to people that are not “pulling their weight” in society.

I would wager that the community I live in is not so very different from many communities across America. We need to explain our value in broad, all-inclusive terms that do not polarize those that are economically advantaged and those that are economically disadvantaged. We need to speak to people (as you are doing) that are outside of the library field. And we need to go beyond just talk, we need to SHOW our worth with our actions and those actions need to be captured via digital photographs and digital movies and podcasts and via any means we have available to submit throughout our communities, states and country as evidence to all that we aren’t just talking about it; we ARE doing it: we are valuable to all.

I should probably end with the last sentence I keyed in, but I have a request. Can we all agree to please forget all of the random, hokey movies with library staff acting for videos shot in the library stacks and start plastering the Internet with videos showing staff genuinely engaged in reality with real library members doing valuable, quality programming? Consider for a moment; what message do those movies in the stacks send to non-library orientated people? What messages could we be sending with real-life footage?