[Greg Markle]

Tuesday, November 10, the City Council will vote on the Mayor's Capital Budget. In the Capital Budget is $17M tax payer money to help build a new $37M Central Library. Read all about how this works and why we need a new Central Library here:

http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/about/future/central.html

Then come to City Hall at 5:00 on November 10, for a rally to support a new central library. Register your support. Dress as a favorite literary character or bring a book.

And let your alder person know why the time is right, the need is great, and a new Central Library is just around the corner!

[HeyZeus]

I don't think we do. The homeless are doing just fine in the current building.

I'd be more inclined to support the replacement/upgrading of the smaller libraries that are around the city. The new Sequoya branch is evidence of money well spent.

[doppel]

Greg, Don't you mean: the time is wrong, the want is great, and the old library is already on the corner. There are already better uses for money we don't have.

[gargantua]

Greg, Don't you mean: the time is wrong, the want is great, and the old library is already on the corner. There are already better uses for money we don't have.

I'm pretty sure he means exactly what he says.

The time is right....construction costs are currently as low as they may ever be. And construction jobs are needed now as badly as they may ever be needed.

The want is great. So?

The old, in need of many costly repairs library is already on the corner. True, but there are costs involved in maintaining it that are quite significant.

As far as the "There are better uses for money" argument....it can be made about virtually any public works expenditure. Especially when the better uses are not specified.

[green union terrace chair]

Dress as a favorite literary character or bring a book.

How about a fireman from Fahrenheit 451?

[billyzelsnack]

What are books?

How about we just spend the $37M on netbooks, internet access, and netflix subscriptions for anyone that can't afford them.

[fennel]

What are books?

How about we just spend the $37M on netbooks, internet access, and netflix subscriptions for anyone who can't afford them.

Because these things cannot be bought for any price (they can only be rented), so it's very hard to get a handle on the worth of one's investment. $37M in licensing fees can translate into dust in very short order. The same investment in physical space and books has the potential to endure.

[billyzelsnack]

A physical space's maintenance + staff + content + licensing fees also has the potential to endure ( more cost. )

At what point does a library's cost no longer justify its potential for community value? Where's the magic line? I'm thinking that magic line is well below $37M.

The link in the first post say this..

The Central Library has a service area population of nearly 38,000 people in and around the isthmus.

That's about $1000 per ( potential ) patron.

You'll be able to get a net accessible computer in cereal box in a few years. How about putting that $37M in the bank instead and wait for the upcoming technology sweet spot.

[Greg Markle]

And yet as access through technology continues to increase Madison library patronage and circulation also continue to increase.

Perhaps a library is a bit more than just its parts.

[Mister BIll]

Libraries provide probably the best return of any public expenditure.

Over 850,000 items were checked-out from Madison Central alone last year. What was that worth to our community?

http://madisoncentrallibrary.blogspot.c ... worth.html

Madison is a very literate community. This investment is well within the means of our community. And it is time for our generation to step up and re-invest in our Central Library. It is the hub that supports the entire Madison Public Library system. And over the past 40 years virtually every building system in this facilility has been repaired to limp along well past the end of their useful lives... It is time.

Bill Kunkler
Fiore-Irgens

[billyzelsnack]

The ROI methodology in that first article is a joke ( it's like they hired the RIAA to computer their loss estimates. ) Which is to be expected when a study is not done by an unbiased 3rd party. Of course the "Library Research Service" is going to write a report that paints validation of their existence in a positive light.

I understand that libraries are very special to your hearts. However they are an expensive relic. They had their time and place and that time and place is now gone.

btw. $50/taxpayer/yr just to keep them running in Madison is not worth it. I mean Geez.. I'd bet that most the people that use the library won't even get $50 of value out of it per year.

[Greg Markle]

If they are a relic, than how do account for the continued expansion in use and circulation?

Huh?

How?

Well?

Huh?

Well?

[HOMOsapien]

...

Here is your new central library (aka public knowledge aggregator). It costs about $450.00 upfront and $35.00 a month to run. It provides access to more knowledge than any brick and mortar homeless shelter could ever possibly provide access to. It doesn't need any staff to operate it or maintain it. It's open 24/7. No need to buy insurance for it because it's cheap to replace and no one could slip and fall while taking a shower using the sinks in the bathrooms because it doesn't require bathrooms (mandated by law in libraries). It's also portable, so it can be easily shared.

One drawback; it's not grand, monumental, emotionally spectacular, or controlled by a redistributive entity. That's why politicians and Madison's tabloid media never talk about it.

It doesn't matter how knowledge is dispersed as long as it is dispersed. That's the dirty little secret the bureaucrats don't want you to know.

This is why I can't be a professional Madison area bureaucrat; I am efficient and green and I make too much sense. You can't make this stuff up.

[TheBookPolice]

It doesn't matter how knowledge is dispersed as long as it is dispersed.

An excellent argument for unfettered socialism, but fundamentally wrong when it comes to pure information. As your presence on this forum as a supposed distributor of knowledge proves, the deliverer of knowledge is very, very important.

Any dipshit with two fingers can stick one up his ass and peck out a statement littered with impressive falsehoods with the other.

Librarians, alternately, are trained to determine valid information from invalid, and show the path by which patrons might themselves arrive at the facts.

[billyzelsnack]

Any dipshit with two fingers can stick one up his ass and peck out a statement littered with impressive falsehoods with the other.

Librarians, alternately, are trained to determine valid information from invalid, and show the path by which patrons might themselves arrive at the facts.

Wow. They sure sound amazing. Though.. It must be super frustrating for them when most people just ask them mundane questions about where the bathroom is or how much the late fee on their Hannah Montana DVD is.