I don’t get it. When reading articles like the one In Forbes on July 21, 2018, which suggests that Amazon replace libraries because it would be “economical”, one has to scratch their heads. What were the editors of Forbes thinking when they printed this article? Seriously, this makes about as much sense as privatizing the court system, the police station and fire station. No good can come from it. The advocates for this silly idea have clearly not thought this through. Honestly, they have never seen a tax they liked or needed. In a sense, one can sympathize with their lack of confidence in government taxation and spending . At the same time, they need to admit some government spending is needed and required for societies to flourish and grow. Libraries enrich and transform communities: large or small, rich or poor. Before giving into the proverbial knee jerk, and agree that the need for libraries has passed, one question should be posed to the staff of Forbes magazine. What message are we sending to children and their parents across the nation? Is it that investing government dollars to ensure that people have access to information is a bad thing? Or is it that reading is not important unless you can afford it? In my humble opinion, it is a short sighted move on the part of Forbes to advocate a smaller reader base. This could at some point hurt their profits. Not to be an alarmist or conspiracy theorist, but what is really frightening is that as a society, it is increasingly the norm that children are more inclined to look at a computer screen than pick up a book. Reading levels are dropping and the reality of an illiterate society is not that farfetched. Icons and touch screens have made it more convenient to connect with what is wanted or needed.
As a professional librarian and library director for over twenty-five years, this argument has been made over and over again. Each time, it falls on it’s own hallow merits. Just one example is the research into Public and private schools have seen reading skills boost tremendously when a full staffed library is part of the school’s curriculum. In study conducted to determine the effectiveness of school libraries in Michigan, it was found that elementary school who had access to a school library excelled higher in reading skills compared to those who didn’t. This was a 35% difference in reading schools. Those numbers are hard facts that point to the solution of poor reading skills.
Additionally, public libraries have continuously been the “bridge” to aid economically challenged neighborhoods to engage in governmental programs. According to Pew Research in 2016, 47% of African Americans who use libraries on a regular basis go to use the libraries computer and internet access. Those who rely on the library for assistance in finding jobs or programs for family literacy and a host of other assistance truly have nowhere else to go. Will Amazon help someone find employment? Can Amazon provide story times for toddlers, which help language and literacy skills development? More importantly, is this a sign from our current societal state that it is preferable to “click” on a button to receive services instead of human interaction? Amazon is great for many things, but as a library it simply does not measure up.
Libraries contribution to society is what one can call the intangible. It is difficult to put a price on human growth and learning. It is my honor to be part of an institution that has been around far longer than Artificial intelligence and has always invested in HI or otherwise known as Human intelligence.
