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It appears to me that Eastern Mecklenburg county is the hardest hit. Too bad, the folks in Hickory Grove have waited years for a new library. The little hole-in-the wall library was always full. The new one just opened about a month ago!! They closed all three libraries in east Charlotte. The University library is the closest.
Face facts. There's only so much tax money to go around. You can have lots of entitlement programs or you can have libraries, parks, recreation, etc. The country voted for entitlements.
Face facts. There's only so much tax money to go around. You can have lots of entitlement programs or you can have libraries, parks, recreation, etc. The country voted for entitlements.
Face facts. There's only so much tax money to go around. You can have lots of entitlement programs or you can have libraries, parks, recreation, etc. The country voted for entitlements.
Indeed. Ironically the Charlotte Observer has two articles on it at the moment. One is about the library closings due to the $2M shortfall. The other is about Michael Jordan officially taking over the Bobcats which was the recipient of the biggest entitlement in the city's history. i.e. the $300M taxpayer paid for arena. I do realize that we are talking city taxes vs county taxes but this difference comes from how they decided to divide it up when they consolidated portions of the government.
The library is indeed being closed due to the nature of what are the priorities in the USA these days.
I'm so sad! Any news on what will happen in the future? Are there plans for them to be reopened eventually or is it a permanent move?
We're still new here and were thrilled to have a library somewhat close to the house. Now the closest is 6 miles away and with traffic that's not nearly as convenient as it sounds. Bummer
Before you start to trash-talk our city, understand it's not just happening in Charlotte. Philadelphia closed almost all of their libraries, there were branches closed in Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Illinois, Boston, New York, etc...
Be honest: when's the last time any of you went and actually checked books out of the library? I'm not saying they aren't important places in an educated society, but to think that children are hanging out there after school is ludicrous. The only people I ever see in the library are SAHMs, old people, and people who don't have computers at home.
I check out books all the time from South County Regional. All of my kids, especially my youngest, love going there. There are also a lot of fun programs for children during the week (when my youngest is not in preschool). I pretty much grew up going to libraries, and I worked at one during college as a part time job. I also cannot financially purchase every book that catches my eye at Barnes & Noble so unless it is one of my favorite must-have authors I will try to check it out of the library instead. I simply cannot spend all my money on books . Plus I have no more room to put them in. Just ask my husband.
I'm sure that if they asked,people would gladly volunteer at the libraries to keep them open. I know I would do so a few days a week.
That's how they keep the small town libraries in Maine open during the week. Hours are limited to a few a day, but when there are only about 500 people in town, everyone faces compromises and volunteers.
It's a shame. The people overseeing the budget seem to have no forecasting abilities. By the time the public is made aware of the shortfalls it is always too late to do anything. I don't know why more isn't done to incorporate libraries with other community programs that might help to reduce costs. I grew up going to the library each week when I was little and in highschool would commonly go to the public library for book reports or projects. Even with most kids using the internet for research now I don't think it helps when you take resources away from children.
You think the county doesn't have plenty of entitlement programs? There's still only so much tax money to go around. It's a lot like that old song "the hand bone's connected to the arm bone. . . " Well, the county's connected to the state, the state's connected to the federal.
Be honest: when's the last time any of you went and actually checked books out of the library? I'm not saying they aren't important places in an educated society, but to think that children are hanging out there after school is ludicrous. The only people I ever see in the library are SAHMs, old people, and people who don't have computers at home.
Ever been to Imaginon or the main library any afternoon? Tons of kids on the computers.
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. Plus I have no more room to put them in. Just ask my husband.
