Camden preparing to close its libraries, destroy books

[The Northerner]

Camden is preparing to permanently shut its library system by the end of the year, potentially leaving residents of the impoverished city among the few in the United States unable to borrow a library book free.

At an emotional but sparsely attended meeting of the library board Thursday, its president, Martin McKernan, said the city's three libraries cannot stay open past Dec. 31 because of severe budget cuts by Mayor Dana L. Redd.

"It's extraordinary, it's appalling," McKernan said.

All materials in the libraries would be donated, auctioned, stored, or destroyed. That includes 187,000 books, historical documents, artifacts, and electronic equipment. Keeping materials in the shuttered buildings is a fire hazard, officials said, and would make them vulnerable to vandalism and vermin.

"They don't want to see our children grasp a future, but go down the toilet," said Jean Kehner, who described herself as a Camden resident for 76 years.

Redd is facing a $28 million projected deficit stemming from reductions in state aid and a long-standing lack of taxable property. She is planning deep cuts in all departments, and she told McKernan last month that she would slash funding to the 105-year-old library system by about two-thirds.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20100806_Camden_preparing_to_close_library_system.html

[Hannah Bell]

1. what a frigging crime.

[liberal N proud]

2. A third world nation does not need libraries.

We are witnessing the destruction of America
Piece by fucking piece it is just being boarded up, given away and sold off.

:sarcasm:

[snot]

3. K&R'd

[Brickbat]

4. Our society is so broken.

[damntexdem]

5. Hey, they could hold a celebratory book burning in the public square:

to celebrate the oncoming demise of the American empire.

[Bonhomme Richard]

6. I never could figure out Camden.

I lived near there over 20 years ago and can't for the life of me figure out why they haven't been able to turn that city around just a little bit. It was headed downhill then but they still had RCA and Campbell soup factories. Is it just corruption or is there something more nefarious going on there. It has always been poor but you would think there would be some kind of upward trend especially since the investment in the waterfront across from Philly. I don't get it.

[madrchsod]

7. camden new jersey information

http://www.city-data.com/city/Camden-New-Jersey.html


is there any wonder why they can`t afford a library system..this used to be a manufacturing center....



the wars have cost philly and the surrounding area around 3+ billion dollars so far...

[cynatnite]

8. People aren't doing libraries as much as they used to...

If this had happened before the advent of the Internet, more would have showed up and fought this. Why fight it if you get all your reading electronically at your convenience?

Don't get me wrong. I love libraries. I could get lost in them quite easily, but the reality is people do more of their reading electronically. They can do it at home or where ever without having to go to the library.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot more library closings with the economy the way it is.

[OneGrassRoot]

11. Libraries are the main place where homeless persons...

CAN connect and get online. This trend is another punch in the gut to the disadvantaged and poorest among us.

:(

[RainDog]

13. not everyone operates at the same level of digital access - poor children, for instance

public libraries offer books for children who may not be able to afford them otherwise. books help to equal the playing field for children whose parents may not have had the opportunity to go to college - there was a recent study on this issue.

Libraries also offer people the opportunity to listen to different forms of music and they provide other media like dvds - not everyone has a net flix account or watches movies via iTunes.

The elderly also benefit from libraries. Librarians help the elderly learn computer skills - classes are offered in basic skills.

My local library stays pretty busy. But I live in a college town and people value a publicly created space for the sharing of information. But tax revenues are down and places have to made hard choices.

I have never in my lifetime seen this level of crisis in the most basic services that are considered the mark of any civilized society as the things going on now. The imbalance between shareholder profit and public good is entirely out of whack. Where is the sense of basic decency in the wealthy of this nation? Where is their sense of belonging to a community that is this nation?

Can't we, as a nation, recognize a crisis and respond to it without making it a way to score political points? How can Republicans continue to suggest the same way that they have structured this economic ponzi scheme as a solution?

[Tesha]

23. Two factors:

1) For three decades now, Americans have been fed
the lie *FROM THE HIGHEST LEVELS* that the taxes
that they pay are largely wasted and don't provide
any services back to them that they need. This has
mostly sunk-in and been accepted now as a sort of
quasi-religious "truth", dumb and false though it
may be.

2) Poor people don't pay taxes and for decades now,
what Camden has specialized in is poor people.

Entities like public schools, public libraries,
roads and bridges, etc. can roll along for quite
a while on inertia alone, but after a while, the
cumulative damage from underfunding catches up
with them and the entities cease existing.

Tesha

[tanyev]

14. Our library is busier than ever.

Computer usage, children's programs, DVDs, CDs and oh, yes, those funny heavy things called books.

[Lorien]

17. You obviously haven't been to a libary in a while. Ours are PACKED during

all operating hours. There's always a wait for use of the public computers, and there's rarely an empty table anywhere. I'd say that library use is up considerably since the beginning of the recession. People can no longer afford to buy books, cable TV or rent from Netflix.

[readmoreoften]

20. HAHAHAHA! Oh my god! You think people in Camden have THE INTERNET?

Oh my god... that's a funny one.

Yes, they have DSL, multiple computers, and the kids all have their own beautiful book collections. That's Camden. Nail meet hammer, you got it.

:sarcasm:

[D-Lee]

21. Untrue -- never seen them so busy as now

People using computers -- full ALL the time

Kids doing homework

It is absolutely amazing ...

Go visit your local library a few times before you express a belief they are not used.

[hfojvt]

9. pretty sad if a city of 80,000 cannot or will not support a library

but at least millionaires do not have to pay higher taxes, so there's a silver lining
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/128

[activa8tr]

10. How soon will they close all the schools? Fire stations?

They could REALLY save $ THAT way!!!

Please people.... this is :sarcasm:

[tilsammans]

12. Reading this, and weeping . . .

:cry: If a city ever needed a library, it is Camden.

[area51]

15. And yet this nation has an unlimited money spigot for two wars of choice. (n/t)

[Lorien]

18. Amazing, isn't it? nt

[csziggy]

16. Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Carnegie would be apalled

Both believed that libraries were important. Franklin created the concept of public libraries and Carnegie delighted in giving them to communities.

With so much of this country's wealth in so few hands, why don't any of America's billionaires follow Carnegie's example and donate to public libraries?

[LWolf]

19. That should be a crime.

It is, at least, morally criminal.

Massive cuts to libraries and schools. Closings, firings...

What would you rather see "bailed out?" Schools and libraries, or banks?

Where would you rather your tax dollars go? Guns or butter, wars or schools and libraries?

[earth mom]

22. Maybe Oprah could come to the rescue? This is right up her alley since she is a total bookworm.

:shrug:

[Starry Messenger]

24. Soon all of the good things that were for the public good

will only be playgrounds for wealthy communities. The lords here have decided they don't like the peasants to be educated.