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"Poverty by library fines seems self-induced."

Well, yes and no. Poverty limits. It can make it harder to get back to a library to return items, either because of difficulty in getting around or because of crises that crop up more frequently. If one has to choose between spending all day figuring out how to feed oneself and/or one's children or how to keep the lights or heat turned on, etc, etc, or returning library materials, what would a reasonable person choose? And the situation for children, who are even more at the mercy of circumstance, can be even harder. As a child, I felt lucky when I could get to a library and often didn't know when I would be back. And sometimes my parents had to move suddenly. I once returned a book 3 years late because of just such a move. Others were of course lost. Most of the time, thankfully, library staff were sympathetic and waived or reduced charges. But library staff often have a hard time balancing their main mission of providing access to materials with another important mission - of preserving those materials. Being mindful of people's circumstances is important in balancing the two.

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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I grew up in difficult circumstances, and would have been lost as a child and young adult without public schools and public libraries. I had great teachers through the years to whom I feel much love and gratitude, but my feelings toward libraries are different. It is to the existence and the idea of public libraries that I feel a great debt. And to those Americans a century or more ago who knew how necessary libraries are to our nation. Libraries are all about freedom. No-one made me go to them when I was young; in fact, sometimes it was a struggle for me to get to them. But they and all of their many resources and their helpful and knowledgeable staff were available to open worlds of ideas and information to me whenever and however I chose. It would be impossible, I think, to calculate the value of libraries to individuals like myself who - searched for, still seek and will in the future struggle to find - a way out of poverty or other forms of oppression, and discover it at -- Yes! A Library!

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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