"Long before I stepped behind a reference desk as a Librarian, public libraries had become the sight of the most personal socioeconomic inequalities I had experienced outside of schools."
I completely agree with this statement. Although public libraries look good on paper and are amazing in theory, in practice, they are just like public schools. How much funding a library receives and how many resources are given to a branch depend completely on the location of the library and the type of people who live in that area. A library in a suburban area is bound to have many more resources than one in an inner city, or one in a very rural town. A library in a college town will differ than a suburban one. And although it is important to tailor a libraries collections to the people what the people will read, all communities deserve an up to date library with all the current technology.
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I agree with you completely. It is frustrating to see more and more money being put into libraries in upper class neighborhoods when they clearly dont need it and the libraries surrounding them do. I wish we could come up with a way to make sure that all libraries have an equal opportunity to gaining access to new resources and technology.
ReplyDeleteI agree also. It is unfair that libraries are given money based upon the circulation of books and not necessarily the necessity of money in order to improve the quality of the library. Maybe some of the reasons people do not attend their library is because of the lack of technology and sufficient resources.
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