Document text
http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Top Galleries: December 19, 2006 Kicked off the highway By Chris Honore' Ashland Daily Tidings File Photo | Daily Tidings A library patron uses her laptop in a quiet corner of the Ashland branch. and Andrew Scot Bolsinger The vote was decisive: 31,162 in favor and 44,004 against. Congress spoke with equal conviction. By next April the doors to all Jackson County libraries, including our own Ashland Library, will be locked, lights out and the building silent. Library services will be terminated and the thousands of local residents who avail themselves of this community resource will have to go elsewhere. A memo circulated among library employees about library funding last week stated, "Without new sources of revenue, there will be no money to continue library operations. The Commissioners have decided that all 15 libraries will close this spring. The exact date has yet to be determined. Very rough estimates are that we will close before April." The fateful vote in November's election killed ballot measure 15-66, which was slated to fund the Jackson County public libraries at present levels for five years, beginning July 1, 2007. The proposal was to collect $.66 per $1,000 of property value as assessed by the County Assessor. Library officials crafted the measure as a hopeful hedgefund against the likelihood that Public Law 106-393, a primary source of funding for public services such as libraries would not be extended by Congress. As expected, the federal timber funds were not renewed — Jackson County has received $23 million annually — forcing layoffs and cutbacks in many county departments. None will be hit harder than the library system. Ironically, the defeat of 15-66 follows a May 2000 voter-approved bond measure that provided funds to rebuild 14 of 15 libraries in Jackson County. The picture of modern libraries devoid of life contrasts sharply with the current portrait of Ashland's library today, a place that despite the whispers, bustles with energy and vitality. The original building, called the Carnegie Library, was built in 1912. The addition was built in 2002. It's about as user friendly and inviting as any public building could be. Within its walls are 120,000 books; 15 staff members; and 38 volunteers who donate 192 hours of their time, all of which voters and Congress suggest no longer justifies the cost. A shift? Has there been a shift in how the public perceives the importance of libraries in the life of the community? With the geometric growth of the Internet, the ubiquitous PC, and wi-fi laptops, perhaps libraries find it ever more difficult to find a justifiable niche in the life of the community. Are libraries a relic of the past, broken down on the side of the information highway? Jackson County library staff insist their relevance has only grown in recent years, continuing to be a unique and interesting place. Not just timber and wood, but an island of sorts, created specifically for inquiry, learning, research, community gatherings, reading groups, and a place to merely sit down and quietly read for the sheer joy of it. For some even a refuge. And the library is not just a repository of books — though there are, of course, aisles of stacked books and magazines and newspapers. Ashland's library serves, staff contends, is as an onramp to the ever widening stream of data on the information highway. Viewed in the aggregate, a library represents a community resource that is so multifaceted as to almost defy description. More than 600 people walk through the Ashland Library door each day, according to Anne Billeter, Children's, Young Adult, and South Region Manager. "Children come to explore the moon and spaceships, dragons and dinosaurs, thumb art and Michelangelo. Thus far this year some 565 kids in Ashland have read 7,490 books. In Jackson County, 5,290 kids read 63,609 books for Summer Reading. Everyone can find life-changing and life-enhancing ideas and information at the library." Scores of children come to Babies in the Library, Third Tuesday at the Library, preschool story time, Summer Reading, Harry Potter parties, and booktalks. Children can call Dial-a-Story (774-6439) and hear a story read to them by a volunteer. There's a Mom's Support Group, Head Start storytime, and early literacy activities for pre-walking babies, plus toddler and preschool storytime. The library extends far beyond children. Patrons check out books, make 150 hold requests for books daily, read magazines, listen to books on cassette, view book videotapes and DVDs, and listen to CD's. Ashlanders checked out 23,000 items in October, a 5 percent increase over the previous October. Some access the 20 Internet computers; use one of the database computers to write resumes, stories, or articles; others peruse the 13 daily newspapers; many sit in the comfortable chairs and read and think or meet with friends. For answers to esoteric questions, scores call or e-mail the Ashland reference librarians: What's the current population of Turkey? How I do I build a straw-bale house? Using L-NET, librarians can be reached 24/7, answering such niche questions as, How much steel is there in the Golden Gate Bridge? Extensive services To walk inside the Ashland library is to be greeted by a hushed silence. Never total, of course, for their are people coming and going, soft conversations held at the check-out desk, the rustle of paper mixing with the soft tread of shoes. Light streams in through rows of ceiling to floor windows which look out toward the passing traffic and the mountains beyond. The library is comprised of lower, main and upper floors. The lower floor is the lower floor of the Carnegie. It has two meeting rooms, the Gresham Room and the Guanajuato Room. The main floor is the upper floor of the Carnegie, which is the Children's department and the lower floor of the addition, which includes adult fiction, magazines and newspapers, large print books, new books, audio books, Friends of the Library book sale area, the checkout desk, and the volunteer staffed welcome desk. The upper floor (the upper level of the addition) includes reference services and collection, adult nonfiction, and Spanish-language collection, backfiles of magazines and newspaper, videos and DVD's, a Study Room, and Teen Services and collection. There are, of course, countless workshops, classes, programs and events, Author Nights, and community forums held throughout the year. The library hosts Books and Old Lace Mystery Group, Chautauqua Poets and Writers Conference, and The "Elastic Mind" Book Discussion Group. Some 6,000 sixth, seventh and eighth graders each year are encouraged to read books for fun, ideas, and information by hearing book talks by Jackson County Librarians John Sexton and Kim Wolfe. "There are magic moments a plenty, here," said Perii Haushchild-Owen, Ashland Children's Librarian. "You see, the library doesn't end with books. Books are just the starting point. To children, and parenthetically to their parents, it's about new things to see, new things to discover, new things do and new things to learn. All rolled-up in one magical place called the Ashland Children's Library." The magic, for many extends outside the walls. Homebound library patrons receive visits from Jackson County Library Services Outreach to the Homebound staff and volunteers. Some 2,666 items were delivered to homebound readers in October. Children in Child Care receive visits from JCLS Outreach to Child Care staff and volunteers, with 40 new books and storytime each month. Local resident Chuck Colburn, who sat researching an automotive problem, said that the Ashland library had one of the best automotive repair sections anywhere, but something else draws him back each time. "Actually, I just like being in a library," he said. "Best thing I learned in high school was how to use the library. Met a couple of librarians who took great joy in showing me how to use the place." He looked around, then said, "This library would do me for the rest of my life." Barring a sudden change, the picture that Colburn surveyed around him will in April will be replaced with one of a large, dark, imposing figure of what once was. Current Comments: Um, isn't this like the third time around this article has been published? I know it's the holidays, but there has to be news happening somewhere... I get it -- libraries are good. - Ashland, OR - December 19th, 1:37 PM Libraries are indeed neccesary in the internet age- many people of little means and income have no other means of gaining internet access othe rthan the limited time avialable to them on public library computers. Even if all of the books in the world Do end up on computers someday, there will ALWAYS be those interested in going to the Source. And people interested in books. the publishing industry is booming! Just see how many new books are in your local shops... Mark - San francisco CA - December 19th, 2:20 PM It is an absolute travesty that the libraries will all close. Two of the reasons as I see it: 1. W, who finds it more important to give tax breaks to the wealthiest people than provide money to support local counties, and 2. W, who inists on spending over $300 billion on his travesty of a war while being unable to spend a few hundred million (maybe even $1 billion ...small by comparison) to help local counties like ours. What a wonderful world W has created! David - Ashland - December 19th, 2:47 PM The Solution is for the County to give the Libraries to the Cities, let them take over the debt and the operation of them. Some cities will see the value, others won't. bbqboy - talent, or. - December 19th, 3:17 PM It's a long shot. But, I called Senator Wyden's office in Portland. And their staff was not aware of this issue. If you'd like to see federal monies help support our libraries, I would encourage you to share your voice and call our Federal Congressional leaders. Senator Wyden's number is (503) 326-7525. Senator Smith's number is (503) 326 3386. Heather - Ashland, OR - December 19th, 4:14 PM David--how about looking toward Salem and your Democratic governor? I know it's easy to blame W for everything, but the Fed was never set up to run state services. Did you ask yourself back in November if Kulongoski had Oregon on the right track, or too busy damning the Republicans back in DC? Mike - Talent - December 19th, 4:37 PM For getting information Google works lots better than the non-fiction section of the library. For fiction we should have book swaps Saturday morning, mysteries at Helman School gym, best-sellers at Walker, etc. with story hours for the kids. The folks that are handing in books can talk to the folks wanting to read them. We should also get rid of the postal service. Now that email has replaced letters the postal office mainly provides a service for companies that want to send us advertising. Peter - Ashland, Oregon - December 19th, 5:34 PM bbqboy has an excellent idea: local cities to receive country libraries. If not city ownership, then school ownership: give the libraries as adjuncts to (1) local public universities or colleges or (2) local public school districts, with asset transer for free public use. Such affiliation may ensure continued operation and funding. Michael L. Hays ( editor@opendoor-com ) - Ashland, Oregon - December 19th, 6:16 PM If you wonder where our tax money for basic services like libraries is going, it's going down a hole in the Iraqi sand. Warren - Pleasant Hill, CA - December 19th, 7:25 PM Mark - Most every coffee shop has free internet... This is a great idea - let's spend the money where it's needed instead on facilities that should be fazed out. I'm heavily against libraries, but I read a book a week... Reading is important, but we don't need to waste money on big buildings in our towns. I feel very bad for the library employees, but I heard that the library didn't pay much anyways. Josh T. - ashland native - December 19th, 7:34 PM David, If you would stop hating W for a few minutes and educate yourself on how this country actually works, you would discover that it is the Congress that allocates and spends the money. The president has no such power. In another month, the democrats will hold all of the power to spend our money. Problem solved. Next month they will stop funding war (the heck with the Iraqis, they can all die) and fully fund libraries. Nothing is standing in their way. Might not happen? Who will you blame? Phil - Ashland, Oregon - December 19th, 8:38 PM I have a small child, and there is something very different about curling up in bed every night to read two to ten books with them borrowed from the library vs. buying many new books or reading books on the net. You can't snuggle as well in front of a lit-up screen. Anne - Little Applegate - December 19th, 10:40 PM David, get a life and get off W as he isn't responsible for the library closures. Why don't you look to see who in fact is responsible, like those that protest and litigate against responsible logging and those that thought protecting the spotted owl was a good idea. These are the folks that are responsible for the closures. Jed - Ashland, OR - December 19th, 11:13 PM It's interesting that some lament over the presumed loss of libraries when the benefit of knowledge such institutions were supposed to provide isn't evident in society. The three branches of gov't have merged into one. 15 secret orgs in the exec branch alone answer to one man. A war rages that no one will stop. Congress acts clueless. Americans don't know what to do. Most don't care. Our gov't kills as our kids are taught lies about greatness. We've lost freedoms. Now we cry over books? Pitiful. Mike Green - Ashland, OR - December 20th, 2:03 AM I would like to suggest something that might seem readily apparent to well educated folks who frequent the library. It makes no sense for people send X amount of money, via a system of threats and intimidation, to a corrupt institution expecting to receive a benefit. If enough people want the libraries to remain open then they can volunteer to send X amount directly to local libraries. Otherwise they may close. And they SHOULD close if locals fail to VOLUNTARILY support them. Mike Green - Ashland, OR - December 20th, 2:34 AM Dearest Mikey and Philly: The two of you need a reality check. If your blessed W (I don't hate him...I pray for his salvation) wasn'y throwing billions down the rat hole of Iraq and giving you two unnecessary tax breaks, there would be money for congress to allocate to local counties. Of course, the two of you are very smart, support the Iraq mess and, I'm sure, building a stronger economy with the tax dollars you are saving. You assume I'm a Dem...you know what happens when you assume. David - Ashland - December 20th, 6:27 AM The very idea, Mikey and Philly, that Bush has no responsibility in the money that's being spent shows your incredible lack of understanding of how the government works! David - Ashland - December 20th, 6:29 AM This valley consists of a majority of low income people. How are their children going to be educated without the library. Not everyone can afford a computer or internet. Or books! This provides free books, Some of which you cannot buy or see on the internet ever. You cannot hold it or ponder each page. I love my computer...but... We cannot turn our back on our future. deborah - medford - December 20th, 7:59 AM For what it's worth: I do research and write for a living. The information I find online is often poorly presented, inaccurate and riddled with factual errors. I rely on books, many of which you will never, ever see reproduced on the internet. The information highway can be a great tool but no way is it anywhere near being able to replace a well-stocked library. researchbee - ashland, oregon - December 20th, 11:07 AM Charge a sin tax, $1 donation to library for every pack of cigarettes, bottle of alcohol, gallon of gas sold. A $2 admit fee. Privatize libraries. Sell the buildings/assets to pay off debt. Tax right-offs for the rich and rich corporations to donate funding. Mortgage interest tax right off donated. 1% sales tax on all realestate transactions donated. Legalize and Tax prostitution and pot. There fixed now stop blaming and waiting, take an action on any one of these. Cheers John Dennis - Ashland since '75 - December 20th, 11:54 AM Can we use the remaining months that the libraries are funded to train a skeletal staff of volunteers to provide a minimum level of service? Such as on-line requests and book pick-up, Saturday open hours, certain meeting rooms left available certain days? Can't there be a creative management solution here to a social/educational community service that is this highly valued? Stuart Stuart - Medford - December 20th, 12:22 PM Libraries serve a greater function in our society than providing the sometimes dubious information you can get on Google. They serve as a repository for knowledge and culture. A healthy democracy requires education and the free trade of ideas. Ever since Ben Franklin founded one of our first libraries, they have been a place for any citizen to self-educate free of charge. I can't believe our representatives would even consider cutting the funding for libraries... Chris - Napa, CA - December 20th, 1:46 PM OK, so where do I find the article about the communtiy effort to save it? BTW, the person signing him/herself "I get it" is insipid. Mike Jensen - Ashland, OR - December 20th, 1:54 PM Mike Green: Information does not translate directly into action. If you want a democracy, you better have informed, not uninformed, people. Libraries help as a common good and require common-good funding. Try selling a house without mentioning community assets. Even non-users benefit. No free rides for "conservatives." Michael L. Hays ( [email protected] ) - Ashland, OR - December 20th, 2:18 PM I just heard the interview with Jackson County Commissioner Dave Gilmour who claims to be a staunch supporter of libraries. I like what Gilmour has to say but I wonder why he voted to waste %60,000 of our county's tax dollars on hiring an unneeded "trapper" to kill cougars when the libraries have a real need for the cash. Spencer - Williams - December 20th, 5:49 PM Thanks for the advice, Mike Hays. May I politely point out that we have libraries right now. And despite the presumed "informed" people you believe libraries produce, there is no evidence of that in our society. With libraries in place, freedoms have eroded to the point that one man stands defiant against the will of the people, sacrificing our troops in an illegal and immoral war. But, every president since Truman has done the same thing. The people remain ignorant and helpless. Pitiful. Mike Green - Ashland, OR - December 20th, 9:29 PM Spencer, from what I've read and observed, a lot of the whining about cougars has come from the folks in Ashland, who have built their McMansions in the Ashland hills and now have cougars coming to check out their backyards (formerly cougar habitat)and join them on walks along TID ditches with their poodles. I don't have a feeling one way or the other on Commissioner Gilmour but I have heard the whining in Ashland which he responded to! Just Observing - Ashland, OR - December 21st, 11:05 AM The internet is an information supermarket. Don't kid yourself into thinking real research can be done solely on the internet (or for free). Try to get a copy of old ADT story...or figure out what a gallon of milk cost at Safeway in 1990 or 1974...won't happen on the internet, but in a library, with information on microfiche, that type of information is available. Also, libraries have proven to be great source of accurate data found on the internet data...but, the access costs money... a fan - Ashland, oregon - December 21st, 11:20 AM Mike, Consider the potential loss of "intellectual infrastructure" with the closing of the libraries. You have no way of knowing if that kid, sitting cross-legged in the library isle, will grow into the person capable of making the changes you seem to want. Instead, you lament where we are now with your stale arguments (remember, the argumentative defense...) and suggest what? Nothing. A little bold of you to suggest that I am either ignorant or helpless...you know much less than you think. Here's an idea - Ashland, Oregon - December 21st, 11:37 AM Josh T. -Most internet access points in coffeeshops (in the area where I happen to live anyway) charge a fee for the access rights- up to 5/6.oo per halfhour. It won't be long before your coffeshops in S. Oregon awaken to this. -Libraries are a bulwark of an informed citzenry and as well, a secondary point of available information for the children of the democracy, after their primary point, the school system. A vote against libraires is a vote against the intelligent education of Your Children Mark - San Francisco CA - December 21st, 12:18 PM To understand a subject one needs to know what experts have already said on it. To access this information one needs what only libraries have, and pay for, which are database services with indexes to journal articles on different subjects. With this access one can search information on a subject and be directed to journal articles. This cannot be gotten from Google! And without it citizens cannot be informed. I am astonished that other librarians have not written in with this information. Anne Richards ( [email protected] ) - Ashland, OR - December 21st, 6:49 PM If a citizen wants to inform himself about a subject, it's vital that he is able to access the expert opinions on that subject. The only way to do that is through LIBRARY PAID JOURNAL SUBJECT DATABASES, which index articles in journals/magazines/serials. Google does NOT do this!!! Other sources are books, which are great, but reflect their author's opinions only. I am astonished that librarians are not communicating about this incredibly important and irreplaceable service to the public!!! Anne Richards ( [email protected] ) - Ashland, OR - December 21st, 7:47 PM Maybe we can open a Bed and Breakfast, another new bank, or a really large Starbuck's in the old buildings...seems like it could work..and these are real resources that our community needs. Jon - Ashland - December 22nd, 12:56 PM I believe that the libraries are just the tip of the iceberg. Without the historic O & C funds generated by the harvest of timber,the relatively new Oregonian trend to run industry and big business out of the state,is eventually going to really come home to roost. Lot's of finger pointing but no workable solutions to replace the historic economic model of industry creates and sustains communities. Good,hard working,families who were raised here,are forced to leave,impacting the economic core. Mark - Ashland - December 23rd, 5:54 AM Anne R: Here in SoAZ, we haven't lost our libraries yet. Via our library card, we can access an online service to a database search called EbscoHost that connects to professional journals. I live an hour from the nearest library with any journal articles and EbscoHost is an excellent service. Some Ashlanders (including those that have been there since Jesus was born) don't wanna learn anything: close libraries; make teachers live on streets. Feel sorry for the rest of you who desire an education Elliott C. - SoAZ - December 26th, 5:05 AM Elliot C.: I just don't think most people grasp the importance of journal articles/EbscoHost & other databases' significance!! This is the foundation of knowledge and freedom : it's the free access to the most expert opinions on all subjects. How ELSE would you get it?? If you were a doctor/lawyer,you'd spend a lot for very specialized access. But now, as CITIZENS, you can find out for free whatever you want: "Does Iodine difficiency cause breast cancer?", or whatever!!! News stories MISS it! Anne Richards - Ashland, OR - December 26th, 6:48 PM This article by Chris Honore was most eloquent and evocative about the services of our library . . . but there is one important library service which, for some reason, eludes news articles: the ACCESS TO RESEARCH!!!! This access to journal/magazine/serial/periodical research is vital to citizens' informed participation in democracy, or in their own personal concerns with health, or other subjects. Libraries provide PAID indexes so one can find out what experts know about all subjects!! Anne Richards - Ashland, OR - December 26th, 7:17 PM I'm hoping that librarians, individuals who daily empower citizens to access information which is their right as citizens, will start expressing the value of their service. Of particular importance to me is their help in accessing research in journals/periodicals, which is the basis of research and knowledge as we acknowledge in it this society. The databases which index this journal research cost money .. paid for by libraries. LIBRARIANS & JOURNALISTS: PLEASE GIVE THE PUBLIC MORE DETAILS!!!! Anne Richards - Ashland, OR - December 26th, 7:50 PM Josh T, you're heavily against libraries but read a book a week? So many cannot afford to buy them, as you apparently do. PS: For a reader, your grammar is atrocious. Perhaps you should have spent more time in the library as a child? Then you'd also know, not many librarians are in it for the money. They are there because they believe in the power of reading, in the open window that libraries provide to children and adults, regardless of their income. Diane - Minneapolis, MN - January 4th, 10:18 AM Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising: Debt Help Inkjet Printers Payday Loans Free Ringtones Debt Consolidation Security Systems Debt Relief New Hampshire Primary Advertisement: Copyright © 2007 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved. Del.icio.us