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Going to sit down this morning to my writing session at the Sebastopol library — it having been closed on Sunday and Monday — I see it's closed. So we celebrate the legacies of M.L. King and Cesar Chavez by closing our libraries?
If we have the foggiest idea what these holidays represent, might we not use our libraries as open centers of celebration on those days? Is there no stash of money anywhere in this affluent county for this?
Cheers—
Conrad
Loving libraries, I too see them as a wonderful possible place to spend a holiday. But is it just a matter of budget? I guess I see holidays from a workers' point of view: the holidays are days off for the library workers, like others, to celebrate by having some time off -- I hope, paid time off.
That would include not only librarians but the people paid to transport books we place on hold from one library to another, and the people hired to clean the libraries. I'm glad they had a holiday and again, hope it was paid.
So many workers have to work on holidays. You go out to celebrate at a restaurant or club, visit a park or see some live theatre, and somebody is working to provide you that celebration. If there's any justice, they're getting overtime holiday pay to be there serving others who got the day off. Sometimes, though, there's no justice and it's just another workday for them.
Some people don't want the day off on one particular holiday or another, and they certainly ought to have the option of working for extra pay on those days to keep places open for others to enjoy. You're right, we ought to have the wealth to support this. So I wonder, are library workers getting a paid holiday? Are the offered higher pay to work that day?
In the best of all possible worlds, in my humble, some people would volunteer to provide holidays for those who never get them, and if we want a nice bookish place to enjoy our holiday and the library is closed, maybe we as a community can come up with an alternative that doesn't ask librarians to give up their day off.
It seems that all holidays celebrate someone's legacy, and closing places gives employees a day to celebrate a day off, so libraries are no different. I doubt if most people give much thought to what holidays represent, or if affluence makes a difference in keeping various businesses open, especially the library with limited hours due to lack of funds.
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Posted in reply to the post by theindependenteye:
I've expressed my opinion in the library situation before here, and I think it's time to be clearer. I am a constant user of the Sonoma County Public Library, mostly the Northwest Branch, sometimes Sebastopol. Probably 85% of my reading comes from the library, and I'm a hopeless, lifelong addict to reading. Like so many people my age (79), the mere idea of buying books on a regular basis is unthinkable; when the chips are really down, I've been known to pick up something at a thrift shop. I was astounded when the recent proposition on library funding was defeated; it seemed so obvious and so important. I see the library not only as a cultural haven, but also as a place for people to get some peace and quiet and lose themselves in reading, even if it's only the daily paper. I almost always give some money to people soliciting in front of the library; I think that's a perfect place to do it. When I was six years old, and finally given permission to cross the street unaided, the first place I went was the Public Library, directly across the street from my home in San Francisco.
I do NOT think that library workers should be forced to support longer library hours by working more than 40 hour weeks. I was a union worker for many years, and I believe in the unions and believe it's tragic that they've been stripped of their importance in the American labor scene. I think workers are being shamefully exploited by management, particularly at the corporate level. So, rather than forcing library workers to work long hours to keep libraries often, I believe that more workers should be hired or, in some instances and with the agreement of the employees, should be payed time-and-a-half for more than eight overtime hours per week, double-time for hours in excess of that. Of course, all library workers should be unionized, and each branch should have a shop steward to assist the membership in redress of grievances. Part-time employees should be hired only when need can be demonstrated, and, again, at the approval of the rank-and-file. Workers should be given fair paid vacations each year. Anyway, you know what I'm talking about, and many of you are old enough to remember when this was often how employment worked in this country.
I love the library, and promise, if I ever hear that library workers are walking a picket line outside their place of employment, I'll be the first to join them. Thanks for hearing me out.
Roland
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Posted in reply to the post by Shandi:
Hear, hear!
With the discussion reshaped as, "Let's fund libraries, so they can stay open more days and hours," I'm enthusiastically in agreement.
As a supporter of workers' rights, I am also in agreement with Roland's points about the deterioration of those rights. It's shocking that a nation as wealthy as ours, is so far behind many other countries in providing a living wage, holidays and other benefits to workers.
Also, I'm in the same boat or if possible a leakier one, regarding supporting my reading habit. I can't afford to purchase books. Thrift stores, or Library Book Sales? Spending money there is a rare treat. I draw heavily on library resources, borrowing books and media, and suggesting more for them to purchase. With my disability I can rarely enjoy a visit to the library in person, but my helpers go pick up and drop off materials for me.
So, I am all for More Money for Libraries, and whenever possible I walk that talk in the voting booth (or absentee ballot).
Maybe we need to consult county library management, and find out what sort of spending measure would be required to keep libraries open more hours, and stock them more, too.