[Publib] The Day After

[Backwage at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/7/2008 9:11:54 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
suekamm at mindspring.com writes:

City and county governing agencies have to  put public safety - police, fire 
- at the head of the lists when it comes to  granting budget increases.  


I have never agreed with this.  The numbers have never backed the  assertion.
 
Here in Los Angeles, we have far fewer police per capita than other large  
cities; police numbers are no guarantee of safety--there is no statistical link  
at all.  Same for fire protection.  I always like to go head-to-head  with 
those guys on public allocation.  Just because they've got the public  
brainwashed doesn't mean we have to bow and go along.  
 
I used to work in a small library, in a small town.  They had their  own 
police force and fire department, for a town of about 25 thousand.   When the 
library asked for operating funds, the city fire and police said, "Why  do we even 
need a library?  There are larger libraries all around, and  anybody can use 
them."  My argument is, there are county fire and the  Sheriff's Department 
that would be glad to do the fire and police work, and for  less than operating 
a stand-alone department.  Two can play at that game,  and you can make a 
stronger argument that a community-owned library has more to  offer a small town 
than its own Mayberry-style police force.  
 
The time to give in to the police and fire departments is over--and the  
library shouldn't give in to any city department in terms of funding, unless it  
is a utility.  The day we start pushing is the day we begin to get  somewhere.  
Library chiefs need to get on the wagon.  I'd love to see  a few tell the 
police chief to go to hell.  
 
It is submission to police and fire that kept librarian wages so low for so  
long--how many cops in a given town have a master's degree?  
 
M. McGrorty
 
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