Rumor has it that five or six branch libraries are going to be closed by the Library Board and the employees let go.
There will be volunteers at several venues over the next many weeks with a petition for a straw vote to create an independent library taxing district.
Here is the ballot summary:
"Should voters have a future ballot choice to provide for library stability by establishing an independent library taxing district that shall provide adequate funding to meet the needs of the community, similar to other districts in Florida and with no increase in the total millage cap?"
We had to do it to provide adequate funding for our schools many years ago, now it looks like we need to do the same for one of our other important public education institution.
My guess is the urban core gets screwed like always. There, you have several communities with a lack of representation. Next, it will be the schools.
^They would never think of closing Mandarin or the Beaches, would they. I think you are on target.
There are people with the petitions in front of City Hall today. If you have business downtown stop by and sign.
Monday volunteers will be at Riverside Ave and Rosselle St. to give the same chance to all the people who work in that area.
As I travel I see more and more of this happening, as a fan of libraries it is sad. However, I will say in NYC you cannot walk three blocks without someone trying to explain the need of libraries and inside each one there has been heavy campaigning to keep them open longer. Petitions have been going around heavy for about the past three weeks.
What I find most telling, when you go to JPL's web site, one would expect to find big banner saying save our library or something of the sort. Instead, nothing. Not a peep. Kinda makes me wonder what the leadership inside that nice new building are doing.
Quote from: Dog Walker on June 13, 2013, 08:20:28 AM
^They would never think of closing Mandarin or the Beaches, would they. I think you are on target.
To be fair, I would imagine the people at the beaches would make their voices heard - (maybe not Mandarin). Can we say the same for all the other areas in jax?
I had heard about a couple of branches possibly closing, but not as many as five or six. With just one or two, you could confine it to the tiny ones, but if they go as high as six, one of the larger branches will have to close, so I wouldn't count out Mandarin or Beaches (or anyone, really).
Let the downfall of our national infrastructure due to unsustainable economics begin.
I wonder if the fact of increased use of online reading and surfing satisfies the need to engage news and curiosity, and that this growing online habit makes libraries less needed. After all, one can, right at home, obtain news, read, and do research online.
Is it a lack of use that is allowing the branches to close? If they do close, then it will mean greater use to those remaining, and even greater use of the downtown main library, which will be good for foot traffic for the urban core. Of course, it will mean more use of the computer at home to get what is needed.
One might argue that the use of computers at libraries will allow their survival, but the problem is that computers and online access has become so cheap that almost all citizens can afford them. I have noticed that the downtown library computers are used often .. the computer room is always full.
Goodbye branch libraries. Sad in a way.
Ron, it's anti-tax syndrome combined with a slow economy that's behind it.
Expect to see more of this. I think it'll really come home to roost during the next cyclical recession.
Quote from: ronchamblin on June 13, 2013, 07:58:53 PM
I wonder if the fact of increased use of online reading and surfing satisfies the need to engage news and curiosity, and that this growing online habit makes libraries less needed. After all, one can, right at home, obtain news, read, and do research online.
Is it a lack of use that is allowing the branches to close? If they do close, then it will mean greater use to those remaining, and even greater use of the downtown main library, which will be good for foot traffic for the urban core. Of course, it will mean more use of the computer at home to get what is needed.
One might argue that the use of computers at libraries will allow their survival, but the problem is that computers and online access has become so cheap that almost all citizens can afford them. I have noticed that the downtown library computers are used often .. the computer room is always full.
Goodbye branch libraries. Sad in a way.
I'd argue the urban core is much more than the couple of blocks known as downtown. What about those of our population that don't have easy 24/7 access to computers and books? Those that already reside in blighted communities with poor access to services most of us take for granted? Seems like shutting down neighborhood libraries and schools without properly evaluating their social and long term economic impact on our greater society is kind of shortsighted.
Quote from: ChriswUfGator on June 13, 2013, 08:07:23 PM
Ron, it's anti-tax syndrome combined with a slow economy that's behind it.
Expect to see more of this. I think it'll really come home to roost during the next cyclical recession.
That, combined with foolishly developing our community in a manner where we struggle to maintain the amount of public infrastructure needed to support such low densities. Our chickens are beginning to come home to roost.
Quote from: thelakelander on June 13, 2013, 08:55:59 PM
Quote from: ronchamblin on June 13, 2013, 07:58:53 PM
I wonder if the fact of increased use of online reading and surfing satisfies the need to engage news and curiosity, and that this growing online habit makes libraries less needed. After all, one can, right at home, obtain news, read, and do research online.
Is it a lack of use that is allowing the branches to close? If they do close, then it will mean greater use to those remaining, and even greater use of the downtown main library, which will be good for foot traffic for the urban core. Of course, it will mean more use of the computer at home to get what is needed.
One might argue that the use of computers at libraries will allow their survival, but the problem is that computers and online access has become so cheap that almost all citizens can afford them. I have noticed that the downtown library computers are used often .. the computer room is always full.
Goodbye branch libraries. Sad in a way.
I'd argue the urban core is much more than the couple of blocks known as downtown. What about those of our population that don't have easy 24/7 access to computers and books? Those that already reside in blighted communities with poor access to services most of us take for granted? Seems like shutting down neighborhood libraries and schools without properly evaluating their social and long term economic impact on our greater society is kind of shortsighted.
Just as not everyone 100 years ago could afford a personal library of expensive hardcover books and magazine subscriptions, not everyone today can afford the expensive paraphernalia required to access online sources. The technology has changed but the need and usefulness of a public library hasn't. Additionally, many books are only available in the time-tested dead-tree format, and libraries offer other services beyond just the books themselves.
Good points.
Then let's hope that the decisions as to which to close favor the outlying or depressed areas which need branches the most ...and that decisions do not favor areas able to afford other options.
Quote from: JayBird on June 13, 2013, 08:31:19 AM
What I find most telling, when you go to JPL's web site, one would expect to find big banner saying save our library or something of the sort. Instead, nothing. Not a peep. Kinda makes me wonder what the leadership inside that nice new building are doing.
You probably aren't seeing any banners because the library leadership doesn't want to be canned.When jobs are being cut, the last thing you want to do is go against the people that hold the purse strings.
Quote from: vicupstate on June 14, 2013, 06:16:23 AM
Quote from: JayBird on June 13, 2013, 08:31:19 AM
What I find most telling, when you go to JPL's web site, one would expect to find big banner saying save our library or something of the sort. Instead, nothing. Not a peep. Kinda makes me wonder what the leadership inside that nice new building are doing.
You probably aren't seeing any banners because the library leadership doesn't want to be canned.When jobs are being cut, the last thing you want to do is go against the people that hold the purse strings.
Very true, didn't think of that
Everyone, there will be volunteers at RAM tomorrow with straw ballot petitions for a separate tax for the libraries.
Please sign!
The list is out.....
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-06-14/story/six-jacksonville-libraries-could-shutter-under-plan-find-24-million-cuts
Unfortunately I somehow knew that Willowbranch would be on this list.
Thanks for the find, Smeeeth.
Willowbranch was the very first branch library too.
Branches on the chopping block:
Maxville
Brentwood
San Marco
Willowbranch
University Park
Beaches
What's the story with Willowbranch?
One of those slated to be closed if the Mayor's budget is approved.
Well you know what they say, "Knowledge is power." That's why the schools and libraries are "always" on the chopping block. Those Goddamn good ol boys don't want average people to have it, because they're afraid to lose their power.
Believe you me, they send their kids to provate schools which have their own libraries. So their kids probably don't even have to use the public libraries.
And even if and when "the chickens come home to roost", those responsible for this will still have the power and money to save themselves. There will be no room for, I told you so's. Because we'll be fucked and the GOB will still win somehow!!!
Quote from: Tacachale on June 14, 2013, 12:47:23 AM
Just as not everyone 100 years ago could afford a personal library of expensive hardcover books and magazine subscriptions, not everyone today can afford the expensive paraphernalia required to access online sources. The technology has changed but the need and usefulness of a public library hasn't. Additionally, many books are only available in the time-tested dead-tree format, and libraries offer other services beyond just the books themselves.
Completely agree, but I also think the traditional library has a lot of evolving to do as well. With hours being cut, then full days being eliminated, and now entire branches potentially closing, I think its a great opportunity for our entire local library system to evaluate what its goal is, and how it can most efficiently get there. If the aim is to level the playing field for those without the resources to access information privately, as it should largely be, there's a lot of fat that can be trimmed. There's no reason that every library needs to be a mini-Blockbuster video or Virgin Megastore. I'm sure someone could argue that there is educational or cultural merit in stocking
Napolean Dynamite or Metallica's Black Album, but it certainly isn't a necessity. Nor is spending precious time and resources stocking the newest Glamour, People, or Sports Illustrated Magazines. There's no reason to spend shelf space across a dozen different libraries on obsolete nonsense like
Windows 95 for Dummies, or
Introduction to Adobe Professional 2.0. Run some sort of check-out analysis, warehouse one or two copies of anything that hasn't been checked out in the last year to be reserved online, sell off the excess, and hopefully reduce your overhead a bit. Require a credit card number or small, affordable deposit ($5 maybe) before books can be checked out, and aggressively pursue those who abuse the system. There's no reason every library in town shouldn't have a small cafe, possibly staffed by volunteers, selling high margin items like coffee or store-bought Sam's Club pastries. Begin digitizing the microfiche rolls, paving the way for the eventual removal of the massive, costly, problematic machines. Blah blah blah. Love the library, don't want to see any branch go anywhere, but there's no reason it needs to be a relic of the 1950s either.
Want to help? You can help gather signatures on petitions for a vote to create a special taxing district for the libraries as so many other Florida cities have done to give them a dedicated and not politically controlled source of funding.
Contact
Email savejaxlibraries@gmail.com
Save Our Public Libraries, Inc.
P.O. Box 380057
Jacksonville, FL 32205-0557
Volunteers may contact: Helene Kamps-Stewart at 904-571-2716 John Hall
at 904-384-8338
Quote from: Dog Walker on June 14, 2013, 10:30:33 AM
Everyone, there will be volunteers at RAM tomorrow with straw ballot petitions for a separate tax for the libraries.
Please sign!
Paul, those same volunteers are MORE than welcome at our food truck rally tomorrow at Burrito Gallery 6-10pm.
Surprised at the San Marco one, pretty high income area of town.
Thats why it is on there....scare tactic to rile the public up
University Park is an interesting choice, too. That's where the Friends of the Library have their book warehouse and store. Same people (well some of them) as behind the petition drive.
I had to agree with the first comment posted below the article:
Quote
Cowford Express
06/14/13 - 01:24 pm 55
Here we go again. The annual ritual where our Mayor and Council threaten the public with Library and fire station closings in a political game to see who blinks first.
Then as always, the money will magically appear as it is revealed there was money hidden when in all actuality, this city is flush with money.
All this just so they can look like they saved valued services and gain potential votes. And the TU plays right along in the game of fear.
To the mayor and city council------Stop planning your next election move and be professional about the budget. If taxes need to be raised from their archaic level, man up and do it.
How about for every fire station or library closing, we assess a $3,000 penalty each on the salaries of the Mayor, his staff, and the council?????? I would bet the budget wouldn't be a problem at all.
Is anyone else sick of the charade?????
P.S. Don't forget to blame the dreaded "Public Employee Costs" as well. Anyone and everything except yourselves.
Quote from: fieldafm on June 14, 2013, 04:20:37 PM
Quote from: Dog Walker on June 14, 2013, 10:30:33 AM
Everyone, there will be volunteers at RAM tomorrow with straw ballot petitions for a separate tax for the libraries.
Please sign!
Paul, those same volunteers are MORE than welcome at our food truck rally tomorrow at Burrito Gallery 6-10pm.
Mike, Thanks for the invite. I'll pass it on and come myself.
Let's make sure the politicians can't continue playing politics with the libraries. They are too important. (The libraries, not the politicians!)
Quote from: tufsu1 on June 14, 2013, 10:12:56 PM
Thats why it is on there....scare tactic to rile the public up
smart idea