Indiana

Hit the Books

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

I knew this was coming. I figured one unit of local government would get ready to head to the Department of Local Government and Finance and ask for a property tax levy appeal so they could max out on what they could get from the taxpayers.  This time it’s the Marion County Public Library and IndyGo.

IndyGo is what it is, so I won’t spend a lot of time on it.  The library is another matter altogether.  The library wants $1.8 million more of your property tax dollars because it hasn’t hit the ceiling on what it can levy.  No offense, but I really think the library needs to look at its business model and ask itself what is the role of a library in the 21st Century.

A very good friend of mine who is a big library supporter had me raise an eyebrow when he said he went to an eastside library recently and where he expected to see kids studying, he saw grown ups playing on their Facebook pages.  No offense, but I don’t think the mission of a library should be for individuals to play on the Internet.  I’ve also never been a big fan of new DVD rentals coming out of libraries either.

I’ve always believed libraries should reinvent themselves as neighborhood multi-service centers.   Instead of just books,  they house a medical clinic, police substation, family counseling, other city offices etc., etc.  At the very least the taxpayers can more bang for their buck by a number of agencies literally in their neighborhoods.

That approach has always made more sense to me than simply putting up a library.   In the 21st Century, there is not that much money running around anymore and it behooves all levels of local government to give taxpayers the biggest bang for their buck.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on August 31, 2010 (boomark / email).