Measure L passes

I've heard from a few who know far more about public policy than I that Measure L was bad governance, but I'm still happy that people came out to vote for libraries.


An LA Weekly blog quotes Yes on Measure L chairwoman Lucy McCoy as saying, "Tonight was a vote for keeping our kids safe after school, for helping job seekers get back to work, for seniors looking for a warm place to read and for all the Library goers young and old.  Angelenos have sent a clear message that our libraries are a critical part of the fabric of our community."

This blog, written by Patrick Range McDonald, correctly states that the Los Angeles Times mostly stayed out of the fray, allowing hallowed Southern California library lovers to post op-eds and choosing not to support the measure. The Weekly, on the other hand, exposed the frightening city hall shenanigans that were poised to undermine the entire public library system with its fantastic cover story, "City of Airheads," a rallying cry for anyone who cares about public institutions.

It's pretty obvious that we need a rallying point for school libraries. The unions are too focused on classroom teachers to worry about librarians. If the teachers unions can't fight for school libraries, who can?

Save LA's Libraries: Yes on L

Alexandria, which didn't make it

Today, of course, is election day in Los Angeles. I want to urge everyone to vote yes on Measure L, which helps fund the badly drained LA library system.


HERE is a wonderful piece by the writer/world traveler Pico Iyer. Our state and city budgets are in desperate shape, we all know," he writes, " but to save money by reducing library services and resources is like trying to save a bleeding man by cutting out his heart. Or — if we could reach it — his soul."


The way to think about it is "Do we want to live in a world without libraries?" My sense is that the people making these decisions are not the ones who need library services. 


Measure L gives the people who do the opportunity to tell the city that libraries matter to them. I've spoken to Susan Patron, a writer and LA's most famous librarian, and both of us agree that there is a very strong chance that, once the funds and staff are taken away, cities and schools will not give back, even in good times. When the budgets shrink, the libraries can't serve the people. 


Then, the people get angry at the libraries and its staff for not providing proper service. If we get to that stage, if everything has atrophied at the rapid pace that it's moving now, there is a very real chance that we won't have libraries because our idea of a vital library will be a dim memory. Definitely vote for L.

Children's Author on Libraries

I keep saying I'm going to stop writing about the closing of public and school libraries and make this blog a little more fun. And really, I will. But it's hard for me to ignore the issue since things keep getting worse, at least here in Southern California.

I'm newly riled up by impending budget cuts and the need for Measure L, which will increase city funding of Los Angeles libraries, currently closed entirely on Sundays and Mondays. (This frustrates me not only as someone who cares about the field, but as the mother of a book-loving 4 1/2 year old.)

Susan Patron, a wonderful author whose book The Higher Power of Lucky won the 2007 Newbery, has a well-argued op-ed in today's LA Times.

Patron, who worked for 35 years at the Los Angeles Public Library, starts off by talking about the role libraries played in her life as a kid in LA.

Then she describes about the political and economic issues:

The measure doesn't call for a tax increase. It calls for a change in city priorities, a change in how we allocate the funds Los Angeles already collects. That change of priorities is crucial. The city's leaders have shown that they cannot be trusted to weigh the worth of our library appropriately as they grapple with L.A.'s deficits. Their unwillingness to give the library its fair share means that the voters must step in.

Measure L will restore six-day-a-week service to all our libraries, and eventually seven-day-a-week service to our Central Library and six regional libraries. It will increase support for afterschool and summer programs, and provide funding for books and other materials.

Measure L has been endorsed by a wide range of business and civic leaders, including former MayorRichard Riordan and authors Ray Bradbury, Joseph Wambaugh and Janet Fitch.

Children have little say in their quality of life; they entrust that to us. I'm voting yes on Measure L — yes on open doors, yes on big ideas, yes on a welcoming refuge at their branch library for every kid in every neighborhood.

Please pass Susan's piece around if you share my strong feelings about books and reading, and if your life has been made better by them.

The dark and the light

Just began dimming the lights on the Los Angeles Public Libraries on Sundays. Incredibly sad, but a much better alternative than closing ANY branches. See this story by Kevin Roderick in his blog LA Observed. 

Roderick's been a bit of a library advocate recently. Also liked this commentary on Jaime Escalante and education, though a recent Times story hinted that Escalante's story helped push the drive toward high-stakes testing -- which gave me pause. A great teacher, nonetheless.




On a lighter note, I came across a great article about Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards' love of libraries in the London Times Online. Richards actually wanted to be a librarian -- let's see, rock star, librarian, rock star, librarian...tough choice for many.


An excerpt from the piece, written by John Harlow:


The guitarist started to arrange the volumes, including rare histories of early American rock music and the second world war, by the librarian’s standard Dewey Decimal classification system but gave up on that as “too much hassle.”


For more on Richards on personal and public libraries, click here.