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If you're so convinced that your taxes ONLY pay for the library and all its services why don't you ask your local council how much of your taxes actually go there vs how much is spent on local infrastucture, roads, trash, street lighting, etc? Why don't you check your library's annual funding statements (they should be available online)? Why don't you ask the library director to break down for you the percentage of money that is assigned to books, online databases, magazines, newspapers, salaries, utilities, cleaning, security, building repair & maintenance?
Does your town have its own museum and is it free? Why not ask how much of your taxes go to fund that? When they hold a fund-raising do you complain about that too?
And if you're still so busy whining about how much your library sucks, why don't you stop going there?! I'm sure all the library staff will stand up and cheer.
Yep. And I bet it makes you feel real smart paying for books your taxes already paid for. Good ole Texas education for you.
1) I never bought a book in a Library before.
2) I am not from Texas, I am not even from America.
3) My education obviously trumps yours considering you cant see that you're stealing.
Next time the local PD is selling off its fleet just go take a car, ill read in the news how it went down. Maybe you're too scared to do that though, its much easier to talk back to and try and intimidate a librarian. You must feel like a hero in your own little world.
i'm sure that when the OP is called into court to face charges, he'll remind the judge that as an elected official he pays his salary and as such deserves the right to dictate the outcome to suit his needs....
seriously back on thread, i've purchased many books over the years at my area libraries, never complained i had to pay and never once was upset they were marked. If my few bucks spent helped fund an extra class, or perhaps a kids group, then it was worth it. Guess i was buying them as cheap reads for my personal use, not with any concerns about resale or condition. If i had ones i wasnt going to touch, then off they went to an area shelter or other charity spot.
After all, it's a choice to buy them or not, if one doesnt like the look/feel/cost, then walk away.
That's good for you. You like being duped by the gov't. I don't.
Quote:
Originally Posted by squirrels
Are you sure *your* taxes had anything to do with it? Usually taxes go into a big pool and are divvied out according to the budget. Maybe all the tax money you've paid went to the department of sanitation?
Also, stay the hell off my roads. My taxes paid for them, I don't want you wearing them out.
I don't want to live anywhere near Chicago: terrible winters, excessive taxes, terrible traffic, overpriced, can't find parking, corrupt gov't, crime-ridden, a police state, and just not worth the effort even to visit.
Libraries aren't oil companies. They aren't Monsanto. They're not big Wall Street banks. Let me assure you that head librarians are not swimming in vast reserves of gold coins stashed in hidden vaults behind the circulation desk. In fact, libraries often operate on the barest of shoestrings. And they're NOT all supported equally; states decide what libraries get, not the federal government. Yours may get next to nothing. Mine does. A couple of years ago, libraries in my area suffered enormous funding cuts that forced them to reduce their hours, lay off librarians, etc. These days, hours and such seem back to normal, so I assume the funding has at least somewhat returned.
But no matter what, in order to retain whatever meager funding they DO receive, libraries need one thing. They need patrons. A good part of libraries' funding is based on how much patron traffic they have. And in order to attract and keep those patrons, they need their stocks of books to remain up-to-date and popular. Therefore, they have to keep purchasing new books. They also need to replace the books they lose due to damage or theft. After all, no one's going to visit a library that has nothing but moldy, outdated books.
(And, of course, they have every other expense any other business-type establishment has, but with one important distinction: they're not a business. Whatever funding they got, they got. There's almost NO way to bring in any more revenue, even if expenses are unexpectedly large, like blown water line, broken furnace, fire, and so on.)
On top of what libraries buy, private citizens donate books directly a LOT more than many people realize. I personally know of several people in my own town who purchase literally hundreds of books at the local thrift store every week and donate them to my local library. However, these are often old, obscure books that won't ever get checked out much.
But books take up a lot of space... and the building can only hold so many... so the library is forced to unload the less popular stock in some way. What better way to bring in a few much-needed dollars and create a bit of space than to sell the surplus books, many of which weren't paid for by your "tax dollars" at all, but were DONATED BY PRIVATE CITIZENS? Every penny those books bring in goes back into funding that library and making it the best it can be.
My library holds bake sales, too. Would you walk off with somebody's homemade cupcakes as well?
Nice, informative post. I appreciate it. But cupcakes aren't paid for by my taxes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stan4
Yes, they do.
Are you serious?
They have those old office furniture sales and old police car sales all the time.
For real?
People like you will justify yourselves in any way you can.
I didn't know they sold that stuff. But they don't have anymore right to sell that stuff than library books. That's all I'm saying.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chilaili
If you're so convinced that your taxes ONLY pay for the library and all its services why don't you ask your local council how much of your taxes actually go there vs how much is spent on local infrastucture, roads, trash, street lighting, etc? Why don't you check your library's annual funding statements (they should be available online)? Why don't you ask the library director to break down for you the percentage of money that is assigned to books, online databases, magazines, newspapers, salaries, utilities, cleaning, security, building repair & maintenance?
Does your town have its own museum and is it free? Why not ask how much of your taxes go to fund that? When they hold a fund-raising do you complain about that too?
And if you're still so busy whining about how much your library sucks, why don't you stop going there?! I'm sure all the library staff will stand up and cheer.
Even if I stop going to the library, my tax money will still go to it and all those cheering librarians.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaddySpice
Come on folks, isn't it obvious the OP is pulling your chains? Stop feeding the troll and let this thread die.
If you don't like this thread then leave. Why does everyone think a thread that they don't like is a troll post?
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianH
1) I never bought a book in a Library before.
2) I am not from Texas, I am not even from America.
3) My education obviously trumps yours considering you cant see that you're stealing.
Next time the local PD is selling off its fleet just go take a car, ill read in the news how it went down. Maybe you're too scared to do that though, its much easier to talk back to and try and intimidate a librarian. You must feel like a hero in your own little world.
If you've never bought a book from a library before then what are you doing in this discussion?
If you are for real, OP, you should know that the books are the property of the city or town if it is a public library. There isn't much funding, the library workers don't get paid very well, and the books were bought on a shoestring budget with the needs of the local citizens in mind. When the books become too damaged or outdated, they are disposed of--often by getting a little bit of money for them to plunge back into the library.
Why are the books stamped? and barcoded? Stamped to avoid stealing and to determine what library they belong to. Sometimes there's even a "secret page" in which they stamp a book, the same page in every book in that library. Too bad if a library stamp decreases the book's value--that's not the reason the library HAS the books. It has the books so that people can READ them. Barcoded for cataloging purposes mainly, to organize and keep track of them for the people who READ them.
If the library decides, once the usefulness of the book has greatly diminished, to sell the book for a small price, it's their right because they OWN the book. Money was given to the library to BUY books for people to READ.
The mission of the library books is to serve the public. They have been stamped and barcoded due to their mission. Yes, it decreases the value if someone wants to sell them after they have been de-accessioned, but by then they have served their major purpose and selling them is one alternative to just throwing them out. At least the library gets a little bit of money back on them and can buy new items. If the library didn't make a little bit of money selling old books, people like YOU might have to pay higher taxes to fund the library.
OP is using thief logic. I'm surprised he's not banging on the doors at his local public school, demanding to use the computers there as "HURR DURR MY TAXES MY COMPUTERS".
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