Rice, 'Response to McKinzie', LIBRES v5n01 (March 31, 1995) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/libres/libres-v5n01-rice-response LIBRES: Library and Information Science Research Electronic Journal ISSN 1058-6768 March 31, 1995 Volume 5 Issue 1 Quarterly LIBRE5N2 Rice ____________________________________________________________ Editor's note: This is a response to Steve McKinzie's article in LIBRES V4N4 (see Contents Page for retrieval instructions). Response to McKinzie by Robin Rice Data and Program Library Service University of Wisconsin-Madison I just have to reply to the maddening article I downloaded by Steve McKinzie, mi ss-titled "Clinton's Trimmed Library Budget: A Wake-up Call to Libraries Everywh ere." This diatribe should have been called "Librarians, Don't Worry, Be Happy, Go Back to Sleep" instead. I was wondering what such an uninformed and self-indulgent piece is doing in a professional research journal dedicated to "communicat[ing] scholarly thought" on L&IS, until I saw that the Essays and Opinions section is carefully labelled "non-refereed." However, I am still disappointed that the content implied by the title was not to be found in this article. McKinzie, who is (obviously) not a public librarian believes that the slashing of federal library funds is "great news indeed" for librarians. He feels this will allow us to "rethink" libraries in a fresh light. The two sources of funding he mentions as replacing federal funding are "local support" and "private sector funding". Since he did not elaborate, he did not explain how exclusive dependence on local government for support is going to ensure quality library resources for all communities, regardless of wealth. He ignores altogether the financial crises faced by large cities facing decreasing federal and state support in all types of social programs, and flight to the suburbs by their middle-class residents. As for private funding of public institutions, does he really think that this will result in less, not more, strings attached than government funding? He celebrates "free libraries and free people to run them" but ignores the problems of censorship that are bound to occur with dependence on private funding. Moreover, federal funding of much-needed literacy programs is unlikely to be replaced by public-relations minded corporate officers looking for slick and shiny tax write-offs. Another offensive aspect to McKinzie's writing is his insistence on portraying "we" librarians in stereotypical ways. Phrases such as "too busy adjusting our hair buns" appear throughout the article; no doubt he thinks he is 'tongue in cheek' but to me he is simply out of touch. I would certainly appreciate reading a well-researched, and well-written article with the above title that can intelligently discuss the political climate we face as library professionals. The librarian's creed, as expressed in documents such as the Library Bill of Rights, stems from the tradition of public librarianship in this country, regardless of what type of libraries we end up working in, public, academic, or special. For this reason, all library workers need to support public libraries as they go under the budget-cutting knife. The strength of all libraries is based on the democratic principle of public access to information (and education). My fears seem to be coming true that the holders of political power will see public libraries for what they are: a communistic system of sharing resources for the greater good of all. Since there is no profit motive in this system, it will sooner or later come to be seen as evil in the New World Order of market domination. Perhaps our strategy of trying to develop private funding sources and selling information resources only to those who can afford it (such as pay-per search online services), is flawed in a similar way as that of the Democrats' copy-cat move toward the right in national politics. We need thinkers in our field who can not only inspire us to fight for the public's right to library and information services without selling out any portion of that public, but who can devise political strategies locally and nationally that work, so that our collective efforts are not wasted. I am sure we do not need apologists like McKinzie to tell us to go back to sleep, and everything will be all right. Robin Rice rice@dpls.dacc.wisc.edu ________________________________________ This document may be circulated freely with the following statement included in its entirety: Copyright Robin Rice, 1995. This article was originally published in _LIBRES: Library and Information Science Electronic Journal_ (ISSN 1058-6768) March 31, 1995 Volume 5 Issue 1. For any commercial use, or publication (including electronic journals), you must obtain the permission of the author: rice@dpls.dacc.wisc.edu To subscribe to LIBRES send e-mail message to listserv@kentvm.kent.edu with the text: subscribe libres _ ________________________________________