dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (04/27/84)
THE BOSTON GLOBE MONDAY, APRIL 16, 1984 p. 17 Despite budget cuts, library pursues a search for excellence The Globe renders a public service in the continuing coverage it gives a great public resource, the Boston Public Library. Excellent as is the April 2nd, 1984 article, three important dimensions are missing. Nowhere mentioned is the traumatic experience of 1980 to 1982 in which the library's budget and staff were cut by one-third in reaction to Proposition 2 1/2. Try to visualize what would have been the impact of such cuts on Boston's other two cultural giants, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, if you want to come closer to the disastrous effects here. Currently, the library is trying to repair the damage, and strong emphasis is being placed on the branch libraries. The Globe's article mentions the needs of the branches without linking thoses needs to money, an indispensable ingredient, and also without noticing the library's recent budget request for the coming fiscal year, emphasizing the branches. A second missing dimension is that essential propelling force, a sense of mission. The article places much emphasis on information but not enough on education, which remains a fundamental American ideal, with the power to rouse people and move people. The Boston Public Library still has its sense of educational mission but renascence is needed. Technologically, the library is for more in tune with the times than the Globe suggests. I challenge you to examine the computer commitment here; I challenge you to scrutinize the Audio-Visual Department, one of the glories of the library today. There is a vital third dimension, the dimension of competition. When the Japanese build a better automobile, we study it and try to learn their techniques. Nowhere does the article identify a public library that is clearly the leader in its field today. The New York Public Library leads in public relations and fund raising, but it also has a cumbersome bureaucracy. The Library of Congress leads in acquisitions and programs (lectures, concerts, exhibitions), but it, too, has developed a heavy bureaucracy. By comparison, the Boston Public Library is lean. You go through fewer people here to get something done. The change that's needed should be carried out in the spirit of constructive continuity, building on great assets here-- a dedicated professional staff, remarkable collections, an ambitious calendar of programs, energetic acquisition and publication efforts, and a commitment to technological advance. SINCLAIR HITCHINGS Keeper of Prints Boston Boston Public Library [sh should mention the lack of public information about the library-- access is poor]
dws@mit-eddie.UUCP (Don Saklad) (04/27/84)
BPL won't hand you a library card I was interested in the April 2 article "Boston's library at a crossroads" by Richard Higgins. One of the unfriendly policies of the library is the rule that all new library cards be mailed to one's residence. The library will not give your card to you over the counter, although they will accept some pretty flimsy ID to prove you deserve to have one mailed to you, such as a Star Market check cashing card with the new address pasted over the old one. Unfortunately, the Post Office mistakenly returned my card twice over a period of six weeks to the library as "addressee unknown". I tried each time to have my card given to me over the counter, but was refused this courtesy even though I brought my lease, driver's license, telephone bill and the Star Market card to prove who I was and where I lived. Obviously, the library is not interested in servicing potential users, nor do the supervisory personnel seem to have the ability, authority or even the desire to bend a rule given pretty good criteria and ID for doing so. It's particularly infuriating since city taxpayers pay for these so called services. Boston JUDITH HILDEBRANDT --Boston Globe, daily newspaper, Mon., 4/16/84, p. 17