Captain Quackenbush's
More Support for Libraries
RECEIVED Wed., March 3, 2004
Dear Editor,
A hearty "amen" to Mike Clark-Madison's article in support of the APL ["Reading the Riot Act," News, Feb. 27]. I keep hearing that in this age of discount bookstores and Web surfing, libraries are less and less relevant. The reality is that the "digital divide" is as real as I-35.
While City Hall endorses seemingly endless subsidies for various developers in its pursuit of minute increases in sales-tax revenue, it's worth recalling Economy 101: supply and demand. A (computer-)literate workforce is capable by itself of attracting new employers, creating new jobs, and thus creating demand for the very products these shopping malls peddle. Fund the APL with even a fraction of the proposed subsidies and pretty soon you won't need to offer them anymore.
The APL's per capita budget lags behind both Dallas and Houston. We not only lack an adequate central library, but the mayor has gone so far as to question the need for so many branches. As Mike points out, these things should not be placed in opposition; but it's simply absurd to oppose them both.
Austin Energy's renewable energy plan, Save Our Springs, and the Long Center are great examples of what Austin is capable of when we put our minds to it. Sustainable and healthy growth – emphasis on "healthy" – can help fund all these things and more. That is why the APL is "far more important to the future of Austin" than any of these projects, no matter how worthy.
Dismissing libraries as irrelevant is a self-fulfilling prophecy – and completely wrongheaded. Austin, we deserve a library that is among America's best. Why are we settling for so much less?
A hearty "amen" to Mike Clark-Madison's article in support of the APL ["Reading the Riot Act," News, Feb. 27]. I keep hearing that in this age of discount bookstores and Web surfing, libraries are less and less relevant. The reality is that the "digital divide" is as real as I-35.
While City Hall endorses seemingly endless subsidies for various developers in its pursuit of minute increases in sales-tax revenue, it's worth recalling Economy 101: supply and demand. A (computer-)literate workforce is capable by itself of attracting new employers, creating new jobs, and thus creating demand for the very products these shopping malls peddle. Fund the APL with even a fraction of the proposed subsidies and pretty soon you won't need to offer them anymore.
The APL's per capita budget lags behind both Dallas and Houston. We not only lack an adequate central library, but the mayor has gone so far as to question the need for so many branches. As Mike points out, these things should not be placed in opposition; but it's simply absurd to oppose them both.
Austin Energy's renewable energy plan, Save Our Springs, and the Long Center are great examples of what Austin is capable of when we put our minds to it. Sustainable and healthy growth – emphasis on "healthy" – can help fund all these things and more. That is why the APL is "far more important to the future of Austin" than any of these projects, no matter how worthy.
Dismissing libraries as irrelevant is a self-fulfilling prophecy – and completely wrongheaded. Austin, we deserve a library that is among America's best. Why are we settling for so much less?
Dan Yoder
