[Sca-librarians] Libraries being questioned in Illinois

[Johnna Holloway]

 From Slatest. The Slate Dozen Morning Edition
2 July 2010

Something to not brighten a librarian's morning.

Johnna

Fox: Are Libraries "a Waste of Tax Money"?

Books have already been pronounced dead; it was only a matter of time  
before libraries were sentenced to the same fate. In cash-strapped  
Illinois, a Fox News station is trying to help the state figure out  
how to save a few bucks. Libraries, they've decided, are the sort of  
things that can go."With the Internet and e-books, do we really need  
millions for libraries?" Fox's Anna Davlantes asks. "They eat up  
millions of your hard-earned tax dollars. It's money that could be  
used to keep your child's school running." Plus, libraries are really  
old! "These institutions," Davlantes says, "date back to 1900  
B.C." (Nothing says "outdated" like a B.C. birthdate.) But if Illinois  
shutters its libraries, it won't be because they're not used. In fact,  
people check items out from Illinios' 799 public libraries 88 million  
times every year. One of the country's busiest libraries, the Harold  
Washington Library in downtown Chicago has 5,000 visitors a day. But  
Davlantes just isn't sure their activities are worthwhile. "We used an  
undercover camera to see how many people used the library and what  
they were doing," Davlantes reports. She counted 300 visitors, but  
"most of them were using the free Internet. The bookshelves? Not so  
much."
Read original story in Fox | Thursday, July 1, 2010
Full report should be at:

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/special_report/library-taxes-closed-20100628


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