Technology has changed the way we do alot of things. When I was I kid (yes I said it) we always went to the library to read a book or join in some fun activity that the library had. Well technology has even changed that. Could we be responsible for many Georgia public libraries closing?
Now our kids have Wii Sports, Nooks, Kindles, Cell Phones and Laptops. Our kids have far more interesting things to do to stimulate them (ha ha) like playing Wii Sports, videos, texting or chatting on the computer. If by chance they do want to read a book they don't physically have to have the book to read it. We can read a book on our Kindle, Nook or we can read an e-book. Even the public libraries joined the internet bandwagon, all their books are available via internet. Our coffee houses now partner with many of our bookstores i.e. Borders, Barnes and Noble, and they offer story reading time. We often say "bigger is better". SO why not build a mega-library and close some of the community libraries? It's no wonder the government thought that they could help reduce the state budget by closing some of our libraries (in some counties more than others).
So who or what is to blame for the closing of some of our public libraries? Our libraries offer a valuable service to our communities. Libraries offer free classes (i.e. Spanish and French), free internet, reading of magazines, free resources for research, oh and lest I forget, books that we can actually hold while reading.
But maybe the Governor of Georgia thought we wouldn't notice when he proposed to cut funding to our public libraries. In order to help balance the state budget he put many of our public libraries on the chopping block. I'm not talking pennies here, I'm talking millions of dollars being cut. Some libraries do show increased attendance. In fact the citizens of Cobb, Dekalb and Gwinnett counties stood up and said "Our libraries won't be closed down". AND GUESS WHAT right now they aren't. Instead the county has chosen to reduce some of the services offered by the libraries and reduce library hours.
Umm sounds like either way "we the people" help determine if our public libraries stay open or not. That's my two cents what's yours?
P.Denise Smith is an independent tutor who specializes in tutoring math and reading.
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