Wow, even more taxes for city residents! (movies, moving)

[soniqV]

Well, the difference is obviously that you need enormous buildings and maintenance for one kind and the other only needs to be big enough to fit chairs, tables, and people.

[scrapp]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

Sort of. We have evey non-profit under the sun asking for dollars from the RAD tax. For example, we gave a lot of money to help Upper St. Clair with one of their parks. Didn't realize this was a regional park, but apparently it is. And 5000 to the Bulgarian National Education and Cultural Center. Now, I realize that many of these smaller non-profits depend on these grants but I personally would rather have a stable library system than many of these smaller non-profits.

Well, then, the thing to do is either get RAD to cut allocations to these small groups, or lobby to increase the RAD tax.

I also believe the pols raided RAD to help pay for building sports stadiums for our rich pro-sports teams.

[hempfield mania]

Originally Posted by Lobick

Harrisburg would not allow the City to do so. State law mandates the funding of the pensions.

Also recall that the State required that parking tax rates be lowered recently but oddly enough the rates charged by the providers didn't fall accordingly.

True, the city is scared of a state takeover and the state is forcing them to fund their pensions more but, the city chose to use the increased parking rates and extended enforcement times as the avenue to do this. They can also chose to use this add'l money to fund libraries (or a portion thereof) and fund pensions some other way (like reducing waste in city gov't).

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by hempfield mania

They can also chose to use this add'l money to fund libraries (or a portion thereof) and fund pensions some other way (like reducing waste in city gov't).

Without specifics the mantra of eliminating "waste, fraud and abuse" amounts to little more than a talking point. It has no meaning as one person's waste is another's meaningful government program.

The city is messing with parking rates, in part, because it's one of the few avenues the State allows then to utilize to raise revenue. The larger shame is that it's interference form Harrisburg that prevents the City from utilizing a more rationale tax structure. The money isn't there for libraries now within the general fund which is why the supporters of this ballot measure are pursuing it.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by scrapp

Well, then, the thing to do is either get RAD to cut allocations to these small groups, or lobby to increase the RAD tax.

I also believe the pols raided RAD to help pay for building sports stadiums for our rich pro-sports teams.

Yep. We got a couple of new stadiums too.

[BrianTH]

I still think libraries are going to undergo a resurgence as places of community learning once people really start to understand what recent advances in media technology allow you to do.

Here is an article that may seem tangential, but is actually highly relevant:

How Khan Academy Is Changing the Rules of Education | Magazine

The whole thing is interesting, but the most relevant part for this discussion was the part about how a teacher used an online database of lectures and videos to "flip" the traditional pattern of doing lectures/videos in class and exercises for homework. With the lectures/videos online, those could be done at home and the exercises--when people actually benefit from interaction and help the most--could be done in the class.

Libraries could continue to be places where people without means could access the latest media technology on their own. But they could also become places where that sort of interactive/group learning could occur, again making use of the latest technology. Indeed, they could become places where people wishing to start up "schools" could provide their services with little or no overhead, allowing for a dramatic restructuring of education in a way the Internet alone could not achieve.

[soniqV]

Khan Academy is amazing, I've learned more from there than I ever did in school. Especially the lessons on economics and fractional reserve banking. For someone who was under the impression that he got a good public education and went to a good college, it was really eye-opening all the things that were conveniently omitted...

[gg]

I think children's programs are a mainstay for libraries. Will be interesting 20 years from now to see what happens to them. It seems we are moving towards a have and have not style in the US and those in poorer areas will suffer the most. That being said, libraries might not do as well were they may be needed most.

[tranceFusion]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Libraries could continue to be places where people without means could access the latest media technology on their own. But they could also become places where that sort of interactive/group learning could occur, again making use of the latest technology. Indeed, they could become places where people wishing to start up "schools" could provide their services with little or no overhead, allowing for a dramatic restructuring of education in a way the Internet alone could not achieve.

Frankly, if you have to stretch this far to figure out how to make use of a library, it's not worth instituting a mandatory tax on.

[newpgher]

What BrianTH talks about is already happening in many libraries across the country- and the world. It's not exactly a stretch. Libraries have been evolving since ancient times. There's a reason why all of the great civilizations were in part measured through the grandeur and completeness of their libraries. Libraries have never been just about papyrus/scrolls/books/microfilm, etc, but about information and knowledge- not all of which is accessible through Google.

The modern library is not an either/or proposition of books versus technology.