Library Cuts Show Strickland Out of Touch

Growing up, the library was the last place I wanted to be. The mathematical structure of the Dewey Decimal Classification System, firmly punctuated by ear-shattering silence, was more than I could handle sometimes.

Back then, the Jamestown, Ohio branch of the Greene County Public Library was on the ground floor of the old opera house. Since those days, I have spent many hours in all types of libraries from universities to inner cities.

As a student, engineering technologist and now an independent writer, the public library has always been one of my most valued resources. Whether I am doing research for a feature article or preparing a lecture, the people and facilities offered by the library are essential if I am to provide my audience with complete and accurate information.

As government services go, this is one of the best and most useful - and they've had a great deal of practice. The first chartered circulating library in the United States was the Library Company of Philadelphia, established in 1732 thanks to the efforts of Benjamin Franklin. It wasn't the first however. A public library had previously been established in Boston, Massachusetts around 1653.

Available to everyone, regardless of social or economic status, the library has been America's first, best source of literature and historical information for more than 300 years. Thanks to a new budget proposed by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, however, this centuries-old resource may be irreparably diminished. Effective July 1, Strickland's ridiculously vague and wasteful plan proposes to slash funding for Ohio libraries by a staggering 50 percent from 2008.

According to the website of the Greene County Public Library, the loss of funds to would come to, "$2.2 million in 2009 and $3.5 million in 2010." The library was already facing a $3.3 million reduction caused by declining state tax revenues and now the Governor has ensured the loss of even more jobs and services.

In my opinion, so many people will be affected by these cuts that the move might be seen as career suicide for the governor. Of course, this is not a partisan issue but one of common sense.

For some, the library is the only access available to employment or educational resources. I would think that a man like Ted Strickland, who has a Master of Arts degree and a doctorate in psychology, would take a more sensible path towards balancing the budget.

Then again, maybe I'm being too hard on the Governor - it's not his fault he is fiscally inept. His administration has made several of these financial blunders and each time it happens he reminds me of the professor on Gilligan's Island.

The guy had a half-dozen college degrees, but none of them was in boat building - the one bit of knowledge they needed. In Columbus, we don't need a boat builder, but we do need a financial specialist to balance the state's budget, not a psychologist turned politician.

I don't know if Governor Strickland has noticed, but those of us not riding around in taxpayer-funded limousines are stuck in a recession - a real, honest-to-goodness financial crisis. I know he must have better things to do than listen to the people who are paying his over-inflated salary, but I do have one message for him: find your budget cuts elsewhere and leave the libraries alone.

When knowledge is restricted, whatever the reason, the end result is ignorance - but that may be intentional. I think politicians depend on a certain amount of public ignorance in hopes that we "regular people" won't notice when they do something intrinsically stupid - like cut library funds or bail out corporate America.

Of course there are plenty of people that do not use the library's resources who probably should, but that is not a reason to cripple the system financially. It may not be possible to make a horse drink, but it is vital that the water is there when he arrives. Our libraries hold our legacy and they should be protected.

Contact your elected officials and encourage them to do everything they can to fight these outrageous cuts. An email form is available online at www.greenelibrary.org. For the Governor, there may be a bright side to all of this. If he manages to close down all of the libraries no one will be able to read about the biggest debacle of his administration.

Columnist and independent journalist Gery L. Deer is based in Jamestown, Ohio.

For more information visit www.gerydeer.com.