Are public libraries obsolete?

John Lott asks the question, and my answer is a resounding NO!

I'm a voracious reader of books, and I have 30 Banker Boxes (plus five book-cases more) of books by my favorite authors that I own.   But I can't afford to buy as many books as I want to read, so I have formed the habit of requesting new books from my local (county) library which they do not have in stock.

They buy the books, notify me when they arrive, and I check them out to read.   I'm often the First reader of these books; and I'm careful to only request books by "popular authors", so the county is not stocking books which are unlikely to be checked out by other readers.

And their accounting system keeps track of these requests, so they are aware of books which are likely to be checked out by other readers.

It's a good system for me; the library is publically funded (by my taxes) and I like that I encourage them to continue stocking new books as they become available.

But if new books are not ordered, the library is likely to be defunded over the years.  It's important that libraries receive this kind of positive feedback, so they know they are actively serving an active readership.

I do not always read all of the books that I receive from my library.

For example, Vince Flynn died in 2013 and his series of books has been assumed by a new author.  I do not like this author's style, so I will not be borrowing new Vince Flynn books from my library.  Chances are that they will eventually discontinue the practice of automatically buying these books (and certainly I will not be requesting them), and that's A Good Thing.

When I stop checking out new Vince Flynn books, the library will eventually discover that the popularity has decreased, and they will stop buying these books because ... nobody wants to read them.

This has a positive feed-back effect, if on a small scale, and in my mind it's a good way for me to reflect the public opinion on which books my library should spend its funding on.

In the meantime, the article mentions that librarians are personally building the 'popularity' of Classic Books in order to provide statistics to keep them on the shelves.   I think that's A Good Thing.  I haven't yet read many recent classics but i will want to do so some day.

I've read some classic children's books on tape for my grandchildren, and even encourage family members to contribute to the project by asking them to read the parts of 'other characters' in the book.  my children, and their children, enjoyed this "Books On Tape" project, especially because they begin to associate the readers' voices with the characters.    (I recently read a short segment of an OZ book to my grandchildren, when my daughter brought them to visit me, and my daugher interrupted me to say that I "read the wrong characters' voice".  I had read Brer Rabbit with a different dialect/ she later informed me that she and her brother (living with my divorced wife) use to go to sleep listening to the tapes that I had made for them.)

When Libraries budgets are cut, when they stop stocking classic books because nobody checks them out any more ... children lose the encouragement to READ, and appreciate, books which are older than they are.

What will our nation  become when the libraries no longer stock Brer Rabbit books?

We'll soon find out, because my library has no copies of any "Uncle Remus" books by Joel Chandler Harris.

Is this anti-racist protest?  If so, it's a sad commentary on America, because if we no longer make Historic Black Culture to be stocked, it's a loss to American Culture.

Shallow

Kim Kardashian attempts to get Kendall Jenner to support gun control | Daily Mail Online:

 Even before she became a victim of gun violence herself, this reality star was using her voice to do something about the problem - but not all her sister's believed in speaking out. Kim Kardashian encouraged her sisters Kendall Jenner and Khloe to stand up against gun violence.
In a new sneak peek of Keeping Up With Kardashians, the 36-year-old star speaks of her passion for with an organization promoting gun control, but her younger sister Kendall is too fearful of the repercussions of throwing her support behind such a cause.

Don't fret yourself.   We don't care what you think.
We're just mildly surprised that you think you think.

INDEPENDENCE DAY!.

As strange as it seems .. there are still a few people who know what Independence Day actually means.

[H/T: War On Gun]

Okay. You have to search for them.  But Thank Goodness there are still Blondes in the world to put the Jocks in their place!.



 (Okay .... not a lot of Smart Blondes, but a lot more than Smart Jocks!)

Yes, I liked the guy (sufer blond, that's okay) who actually KNEW some of the "Founding Fathers" were more than the name of a bar in "BONES".

But I fell in lust with the tiny blonde in horn-rim glasses who said:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Actually, that was the Preamble to the Constitution, which was ultimately signed in 1987   1877     (September 17, 1787)!  [credit for getting three out of four digits correct, for interviewes!]

(The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 04, 1776, and starts:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. 

Today, there is controversy as to whether the current form of govenment meets the standards thus enumerated.  Indeed, considering several Executive Decisions ("Unilateral Decisions") imposed by the current administration, it seems that the 'consent of the governed' has not always been consulted, nor considered.

When .. and HOW ... can we regain control over our own government?

Signe Tolson .. Death Chant

Jefferson Airplane "Tobacco Road" - YouTube: Uploaded on Jul 16, 2008 From the first Jefferson Airplane album 1966 Category Music License Standard YouTube License

Signe Toly Anderson, a vocalist and original member of the Jefferson Airplane who left the band after its first record and was replaced by Grace Slick, has died.

Anderson died Thursday at her home in Beaverton, Oregon, according to her daughter, Onateska Ladybug Sherwood. Anderson was 74 and had been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Anderson, who survived cancer in her 30s, died on the same day that another Airplane member, Paul Kantner, died.

I've loved Signe's contribution to 'modern' American music for 50 years.
I have little more to say about her passing, except that for me she was a significant contributor to American popular music in the 60's.

After Signe left the band, they created the album "Surrealistic Pillow" with Grace Slick taking over the Lead Female Singer role, and the band went on to ... well, obscurity in the next decade.
(NOTE: the conversion of the band from "Jefferson Airplane" to "Jefferson Starship" was no great improvement!)

Slick was an exemplary member of the band, but Signe made the band the popularly iconic part
of the 1960's culture.

Signe  made Oregon proud.  And we will miss her.