Well, Governor Rendell approved the new state budget where our property taxes remain the same, more money is put into the public schools and the money for the public library gets cut. Yesterday I was told that in the near future they’d be charging for inter-library loans. An elderly lady on the line started stammering that it’s fair, it’s fair.

Unsurprisingly, the state (like many states) has decided that putting more money into the school is fine when you can cut library funding. Is it just me that thinks that the library is an integral part of education? I spent many an afternoon in the public library of New York, not only picking up something for school but reading for pleasure. I think it is part of the stuff that made me the person I am today (be that good or bad).

But that’s not the only reason it’s messed up. The fact is that the library was an area they could cut because people aren’t using it. Being homeschoolers, my wife makes use of the library every week. But being a constant student anyway, I personally make just as much use of the libraries in my area (the two public and the one university library). In the summer the library is somewhat busy, a buzz with parents getting their kids out of the house, but during the school year—at just about any hour—the attendance dips considerably. I don’t think this justifies the budget, but if they were just looking at ink on a page then you can see how someone would draw the conclusion to start slashing.

I also wonder what they’re going to charge for these inter-library loans. I’m constantly getting some pretty hefty books and if they start charging shipping I might start leaning more towards buying some of these titles; albeit not the super expensive ones.

At least we don’t have any librarian Nazi ripping books out of my hand and charging me unnecessary late fees.  Well…not yet, anyway.