Thursday, July 1, 2010

'Fair and Balanced' Fox News on the Importance of Libraries


Guess what happens when you suggest that libraries aren't necessary?

You get these reactions.   (Are Libraries Necessary, or a Waste of Tax Money?) 

[Thanks to Mark Arend for sharing.]

So the entire future of libraries in Illinois rests on how many people came into a particular library in a particular hour and what they were observed doing by a single camera crew? This is exactly why people have no faith in what passes for journalism these days.

This is the most ignorant thing i've ever read.

You're complaining about 2.5% of your taxes going to something that provides service nearly every day of the year - with many open 12 hours a day - and gives you access to a vast wealth of information you'd have to pay serious cash for as an individual (e.g., databases such as ValueLine, Morningstar, Lexis Nexis, etc.)?

You know, I'm pretty jaded, but this is just a pathetic piece of journalism. There are plenty of studies quantifying the $$$ libraries create (education, by offering small businesses resources they couldn't afford on their own, etc.) -- attack those studies if you want but to NOT EVEN CITE THEM is just so lazy, so dishonest. I've resisted the "Fox News sucks" crowd's bleating, but now I wonder.

I can not believe you are suggesting to get rid of libraries! Did you ever think the people using the 'free internet' might acutally be looking for a job? In my state of Ohio our libraries are a great resource to find a job. They offer courses on how to build and compose a resume. They have computers just for finding a job and offer you all sorts of resouces online to acheive you getting a job.

And this is just scratching the surface.

1 comment:

Gerard said...

Yeah, I read that response. It's a good one.