CJ at TechnoBiblio writes:

All sorts of dubious “firsts” being thrown about in the press if Salinas, CA closes their libraries - but what struck me was this quote from the article “Beleaguered Salinas plans to close its libraries” (as usual my emphasis to show where I did a spit take):

“Carla Lane, browsing the stacks with her two young daughters, said that if the libraries have to close, that’s too bad.

“We come here all the time, my kids love it, and I’m a big reader myself,” said Lane, picking out an armload from the new-fiction shelf. “But I’m not sure the money is always being spent wisely.

“I can’t believe that everything has been exhausted,” Lane said. “If they have to close, so be it. Maybe they can just open one day a week.”

Holy kamoly - if there is one thing that I think libraries generally do fairly well, it is wring the neck of pennies until they pop their little heads off. But then, is this a failure of execution or a failure of perception? [Continued…]