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So using my taxes, messing up the books with tags and stickers, then selling it back to the public isn't sickening?
If the rest of the public doesn't want it, it's not stealing.
You're greatly overestimating the amount of your tax dollars that are actually going to your library. Libraries are under a funding and budgetary crisis. All over the country libraries have had to fire staff, cut back on programming, reduce hours, etc., and you're complaining that you can't profit off of this? A public library's mission is to provide its community with educational and entertainment resources for free. They're not "messing up their books," they're cataloging them for tracking and database reasons. Most people are happy to purchase a library's used books for a pittance because they know that money is going to a good (and practically charitable) cause. I hope you're taking the money you've earned from your stolen books and donating it right back to your library.
You're greatly overestimating the amount of your tax dollars that are actually going to your library. Libraries are under a funding and budgetary crisis. All over the country libraries have had to fire staff, cut back on programming, reduce hours, etc., and you're complaining that you can't profit off of this? A public library's mission is to provide its community with educational and entertainment resources for free. They're not "messing up their books," they're cataloging them for tracking and database reasons. Most people are happy to purchase a library's used books for a pittance because they know that money is going to a good (and practically charitable) cause. I hope you're taking the money you've earned from your stolen books and donating it right back to your library.
I disagree with the statement that I am overestimate the amount of tax dollars that are actually going to my library. The amount of public taxes that go into libraries isn't small.
You have stated: "A public library's mission is to provide its community with educational and entertainment resources for free." Considering that libraries don't provide their services for free (*cough*with my taxes*cough*) I'd say they are doing a **** poor job doing their mission, wouldn't you?
I also say, yes, they are messing up books. Some books have more than one barcode on more than one book. They put these tags all over their books: over the title, the author's name, and the back synopsis. And then when they want to get rid of the books they stamp inside: "Former Property of such and such County". They don't need to put all those stickers and markings all over the books.
Should I care about libraries being underfunded? Do gov't workers care when the general public loses their job? No. So why should the general public care when gov't workers lose their job?
I didn't steal the books. I'm merely taking back what I already paid for. And those books that I've been unable to resell because of all the library tags, I gave back to the library.
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.
So it's common sense to pay for something my taxes already paid for?
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.
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?
Newsflash to the above quotes: they are not reselling food stamps, police cars, desk chairs back to the general public. They are selling books back to the general public. That's what makes taking books they don't want different than a desk chair or police chair they are currently using.
.
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.
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