The Luckiest Library Patron
I am IMMENSELY fortunate to have the good luck and good sense to live in Johnson County, Kansas, home to what absolutely has to be one of the best public libraries in the country. Many people scoff at the suburbs, and folks on the Missouri side howl at our tax rates (although the property taxes in Cass County, MO, and Johnson County, KS, aren't really that different), but money CAN buy happiness when it comes to public library services.
I was reminded of my good fortune yet again when I was reading Tim Roger's blog and marvelling that such a great mind is working for !me! the taxpayer. Tim wants a library environment where !I! have a say, and where !I! can connect and communicate with other patrons. He wants to take !my! library the next step, and I'm so lucky to get to come along.
Right there with him is Erica Reynolds, who I am certain will make sure that !I! have access to !my! library wherever and whenever I happen to be. I'm the luckiest library patron!
The amount of my taxes that go to JCL is WAY too small. Even with my regular donations in the form of fines, it's not enough. We're there once a week, if not more, and we use literally thousands of dollars of resources every year.
Not all libraries can be Johnson County, but all librarians should strive to be like Tim and Erica: tuned into the needs of their communities and the possibilities that buildings, web sites, and people can provide.
WDT
1 comment:
Wow! Ok, this is a really cool and generous post (many thanks!)...but I think the coolest thing is how I learned about it.
I've been over my head with work this week, and I haven't logged into bloglines since Sunday..anway, the other day, the
the State Librarian of Wyoming e-mailed a bloglines link to our County Librarian to let her know about the compliments from Ms. WhitneyDT...anyway... how cool is it that we're in a world where state librarians and county librarians send each other blog posts... Web 2.0 is a fun place to work ; )
Thanks again Whitney!
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