A Bit of Library Advocacy

If you are reading this, live in NJ, and support public libraries, please go here and contact your Assemblyman!

Earlier this week a bill was introduced to cut the funding for New Jersey's public libraries in half. Assemblyman Prieto's justification is that "many municipalities are collecting monies in excess of the needs of their public library systems."

I'm not saying there aren't any libraries in the entire state that receive more funding than they need, but more often than not one hears about libraries having to cut hours, programming, and/or staff because they can't afford to maintain the status quo. I work in a library in a relatively low-income area, and while I am not aware of all the details of the situation, I know that we are having enough funding issues as it is.

However, we also have a lot of very appreciative patrons who depend on us as their only source of internet access (and instruction in the use thereof), for help finding information for a job search or a school project, or even just for the entertainment of reading a novel or watching movie that they can't afford to buy or rent. They rely on us even more when the economy is awful, as it is now.

I know the government needs to cut costs, but public libraries provide people with the means to overcome economic hardship. While this may reduce the amount of money municipalities are required to invest in the community, it will also eliminate the returns their would have received on that investment.