4 ms·

Ah, the old "I've don't need the service therefore no one does" argument. It's obvious you don't use libraries, because you left out a couple dozen other servi

Ah, the old "I've don't need the service therefore no one does" argument. It's obvious you don't use libraries, because you left out a couple dozen other services they provide that are not easily replaced. I'm also not sure how a community center is supposed to be easily replaced without tax revenue. While the "libraries are outdated" line is oft-repeated, it's still inaccurate. Libraries provide large economic impacts, on top of less easy to measure things like being community centers. Here's one article about a study that shows for every $1 in tax put towards a library, it generates anywhere from $2.50-$5.00+ in economic benefit, depending on how you measure it: https://www.toledoblade.com/local/2016/04/28/Toledo-Lucas-County-Public-Library-gives-2-74-value-per-tax-dollar.html?abnpageversion=evoke https://www.toledoblade.com/local/2016/04/28/Toledo-Lucas-Co... If you google for more, you'll find a dozen other examples.

jimmaswell 8y ago
>I'm also not sure how a community center is supposed to be easily replaced without tax revenue. Any of the various other places that happen to be around where you can congregate, like a park with a gazebo. The value of publicly accessible computers and printers is obvious, I'm just not so sure about all the other things that a library does. I'm curious exactly how this study quantifies all this.
- mbreese 8y ago
  In Oregon? A gazebo? In the winter?
dantheman 8y ago
All of those things could perhaps done even better if they weren't pretending books was still their main service. Perhaps an office in city hall could have computer 24/7 or other things. I like libraries - but they shouldn't be welfare/job centers -- we should build institutions that specialize in that and can be evaluated on their effectiveness.
- dlp211 8y ago
  This is an example of perfect being the enemy of good.

jimmaswell 8y ago

>I'm also not sure how a community center is supposed to be easily replaced without tax revenue. Any of the various other places that happen to be around where you can congregate, like a park with a gazebo. The value of publicly accessible computers and printers is obvious, I'm just not so sure about all the other things that a library does. I'm curious exactly how this study quantifies all this.

mbreese 8y ago
In Oregon? A gazebo? In the winter?

dantheman 8y ago

All of those things could perhaps done even better if they weren't pretending books was still their main service. Perhaps an office in city hall could have computer 24/7 or other things. I like libraries - but they shouldn't be welfare/job centers -- we should build institutions that specialize in that and can be evaluated on their effectiveness.

dlp211 8y ago
This is an example of perfect being the enemy of good.