Small library tax, big returns
Share with others:
Much as I lamented the disappearance of the last bookstores in my neighborhood, the closed doors turned into one of those open-window kind of things.
They propelled me back to the Carnegie library.
Not that I didn't like the library before; I'd simply gotten out of the habit of using it. Barnes & Noble was right there on the main drag, luring me away with its window displays and evening hours.
Then it left me in the lurch, as did the Borders in East Liberty.
So now I visit the library faithfully to borrow at no charge the books I would have bought for $10 to $35 a pop -- and to find the ones that the book stores never seemed to have. Plus, sooner or later, those books go back to the source, which helps control a major source of clutter in my house. Even when I miss the due date, I compare the fine of 25 cents a day to a parking ticket at an expired meter, and it almost seems that the library is paying me for being late.
For these and other reasons, it's an obvious choice to vote "yes" on Tuesday's referendum to fund the library system with a small property tax hike. For an extra 0.25 mills -- $25 per year for every $100,000 in assessed value -- I'd still come out way ahead in the bargain. Meanwhile, the library would get a stable funding source, $3.25 million annually for maintaining and operating its 20 branches.
I realize, of course, that not everyone feels this way, so let's look at the arguments for voting "no."
First and foremost, it's a tax hike, period. For those who oppose any tax for any purpose as a matter of principle, that's reason enough to reject it.
Such principles, however, did not construct this country's public assets -- roads, bridges, schools, courts (imperfect as they may be) -- and they won't maintain or improve them.
First Published November 6, 2011 12:00 am
