Jump to content

Menu

If you live in Virginia, anywhere near Williamsburg,


Recommended Posts

Did you know that Charles City actually does have a library now? A teeny-tiny one that works in conjunction with New Kent. It's located in the courthouse now, but plans are underway to build one in the lot next to the courthouse. It really is tiny, though, so I do use the Richmond libraries every now & then (we're often in that neck of the woods b/c of church & doctors).

 

Even so, Williamsburg's new policy doesn't make any sense. I hope it doesn't go though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, you crazy people actually wanting BOOKS!? Whatever will we do with you? :D

 

I am so sorry about this. I currently pay $60 per card (for 2 cards) to use the library in the town where all my dc's activities are (we live just over the county line, or we could use it for free). It's crazy that they are not offering that option!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The library receives over 300,000 in state funds and is called the Williamsburg Regional Library. This decision is also going to hurt our family, big time. We have sent this letter to the Virginia Gazette. It will probably be in print tomorrow.

 

-----------

 

An open letter to the members of the board of trustees of the Williamsburg/ James City County Library system, along with the citizens and business people of Williamsburg/James City County,

 

In reference to the new library card policy excluding patrons from all locations other than Williamsburg/James City County and York County.

 

Respectfully requested: Serious consideration of implementation of fee based patron cards for non-resident users of the Williamsburg/ James City County public library system.

 

Fee based patron cards for non-resident library users are common throughout the entire United States, including the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, for example. They are also common throughout the state of Virginia. Virginia Beach, for one, charges $35 dollars for a non-resident card.

 

The Williamsburg/ James City County library system currently enjoys a budget of over 6,000,000 dollars. That is at least seven times the amount available to each of the library systems of the areas which are destined to be cut off. To say that we can now fully rely on our own libraries for services, after decades of being allowed to use the Williamsburg libraries, is like telling someone who shops at a large warehouse store that they may now only shop at the corner convenience store. Exclusion of patrons who have enjoyed these services for decades will present a hardship for many families, students, and educators who have come to rely on them.

 

Speaking on behalf of the estimated 6,000 patrons destined to be cut off from all library services, we are willing to pay for non-resident cards and feel that is an extremely reasonable request. You may not recognize it, but we are part of the life blood of your city. Thousands of us work, shop, eat, worship, donate our time, and recreate in your area daily. Your excellent library system is often the main reason many of us make frequent trips to your area.

 

As residents of the state of Virginia, we would also like to remind you that your library is part of the Virginia Public Library system and receives state funds contributed by all Virginia taxpayers.

 

We urge all Williamsburg/James City County residents to contact the various members of the library board of trustees and let them know that you support the establishment of a fee-based non-resident library card for people who are your friends, fellow employees, and customers.

 

_______

 

This whole issue makes me heart sick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So after I sent my email to the library director, as I was encouraged to do, I got this back:

 

**

 

Susan Wise Bauer:

 

I thank you for your e-mail expressing your concern about the recent decision of the Board of Trustees of the Williamsburg Regional Library to limit library card holding privileges to residents, business or property owners in a city or county that funds the Williamsburg Regional Library effective February 1, 2011. I fully understand your concern.

 

As indicated in my memo to non-residents of the City of Williamsburg, James City County and York County the reason for this action by the Board of Trustees was the realization that;”to sustain financial support the library must restrict its circulation privileges to users who live in localities that directly fund the Williamsburg Regional Library.”

 

Although as a resident of Charles City County after February 1, 2011 you and your family will not be able to check out materials from Williamsburg Regional Library locations you may still use library materials in-house, ask library staff members for help, attend events in both library buildings and use public computers.

 

Again, I thank you for your e-mail. As a resident of Charles City County you and your family have full access to the programs and services of the Heritage Public Library with permanent locations in both Charles City County and New Kent County. I encourage you to make use of these facilities and work with library staff to provide the services and programs you desire.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

John A. Moorman

Director

 

**

 

As I remarked on my blog just now, if you're going to send a form letter, you should do a little better than just repeating your press release.

 

SWB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Onceuponatime:

 

THANK YOU. Well put.

 

Interesting: a friend of mine just got the same form response from Mr. Moorman, with a paragraph in it that's missing from mine...

 

**

As public library service is a function of government and provided for by government funds it is not available for purchase by individuals . It is paid for by the governments providing this service. Therefore memberships will not be available for non-residents.

**

 

Which is just plain stupid (and erroneous).

 

SWB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow I feel blessed! We have 3 libraries in Fauquier county and all I do is go online, put holds on what I want, they do all the footwork and running(or driving) and voila! I go to one desk and get all my stuff in seconds! There is at least something good about this county after all!:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You may not recognize it, but we are part of the life blood of your city. Thousands of us work, shop, eat, worship, donate our time, and recreate in your area daily. Your excellent library system is often the main reason many of us make frequent trips to your area.

 

As residents of the state of Virginia, we would also like to remind you that your library is part of the Virginia Public Library system and receives state funds contributed by all Virginia taxpayers.

 

 

Threaten to boycott Williamsburg. :glare:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the small town I'm from in Central MN, our library is not a public library. You have to live in the town to use the library for free. But, if you want, you can pay a yearly membership fee of $25 per family to use the library and many people do because it's such a great library.

 

Why isn't that being considered as an option?

 

It's too bad. As a mom who lives in a country where there isn't a library we can use, I've come to appreciate the privilege of having a library nearby. When we were visiting last year in our hometown, we used the library a LOT! Oh how we miss it!

 

I hope this is resolved to your favor. It's just a bad decision.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow I feel blessed! We have 3 libraries in Fauquier county and all I do is go online, put holds on what I want, they do all the footwork and running(or driving) and voila! I go to one desk and get all my stuff in seconds! There is at least something good about this county after all!:D

 

:iagree: Here in Mercer County, New Jersey, we are part of a wonderful nine-branch system.

 

http://webserver.mcl.org/branches/brnchmn.html

 

We have so many services, but we never take them for granted. I tell the library staff all the time how wonderful they are, how much we appreciate them, and how we would be lost without the library! I don't understand the current trend toward downsizing LIBRARIES. :glare:

 

Susan, this is hard, but maybe something good will come out of it. There might be a way to get WRL to reverse this decision, especially if you find the economic weak spot of Williamsburg -- it's all about money. I'd honestly be so angry that I'd say, "No books, no money." And then I'd pull up stakes in WB and drive the extra 15 minutes to Richmond.

 

Perhaps the Charles City County folks will put their energy, funds, and time into creating a decent library and book collection right in CCC.

 

:grouphug: This is when it hurts to be rural and shut out. Stinks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The stupid thing is, who pays for govt services. Hello?! Those of us who pay taxes! Whether it be at the state or local level. They should take a very serious look at crunching the numbers. What kind of revenue could they generate by allowing you to purchase the privilege of using their books? $$$$$$

 

And to try to appease you by saying you can use the materials in house. ANYONE can waltz into a library and sit down to read a magazine. Heck, aliens can do that. Lame brains.

 

Hope it gets worked out. Hopefully all this talk will motivate some mad homeschool mamas in the area to picket them or something! :tongue_smilie:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The response does beg the question of what the director thinks the purpose and value of a library is. You can't check out books, but we'll still let you use the computer.

 

I may have to agree with the cynical commentor on your blog. It does seem a bit calculated to make it seem like a huge concession to allow non-residents a by fee card. (Of course it makes them look dumb to not allow that as an option from the get go.)

 

I would suggest finding the state bureaucrat that determines how much state funding a library gets and make sure that they take the new reduced usage into consideration for the next allocation of state funds. Maybe your local Charles City state rep can help move some of those state funds to the local library. Funding should reflect who the library is serving.

 

I've always had a pretty good impression of Williamsburg, dating back to when we used to regularly drive from Norfolk to spend time at Colonial Williamsburg and to shop the College of William and Mary bookstore. Policies like this do create an impression that Williamsburg doesn't like outsiders, an odd tack for a city with a large tourist industry to take.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In our area, Inter-Library loan is not free and often the books may only be used in the library.

 

ILL has a pretty hefty cost for the library. Not only do they have to pay for mailing the books back and forth, but there is (or was) a charge for each search on World Cat and libraries that borrow more than they loan are assessed a charge at the end of the year.

 

It would make far more sense to limit or prohibit ILL for non-residents than to restrict book loans. Or to stop participating in full ILL altogether.

 

The books in the stacks have already been purchased and cataloged. The remaining expense is to check them in and out. But drops in circulation typically result in drops in funding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Onceuponatime:

 

THANK YOU. Well put.

 

Interesting: a friend of mine just got the same form response from Mr. Moorman, with a paragraph in it that's missing from mine...

 

**

As public library service is a function of government and provided for by government funds it is not available for purchase by individuals . It is paid for by the governments providing this service. Therefore memberships will not be available for non-residents.

**

 

Which is just plain stupid (and erroneous).

 

SWB

 

First of all, government funds are taxpayer dollars. There are MANY other library systems that have no problem taking money from out-of-system individuals right along with the money they receive from government funding. Bogus.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Onceuponatime:

 

THANK YOU. Well put.

 

Interesting: a friend of mine just got the same form response from Mr. Moorman, with a paragraph in it that's missing from mine...

 

**

As public library service is a function of government and provided for by government funds it is not available for purchase by individuals . It is paid for by the governments providing this service. Therefore memberships will not be available for non-residents.

**

 

Which is just plain stupid (and erroneous).

 

SWB

 

So what other services has Williamsburg stopped providing to non-residents?

 

I'm assuming that the police no longer respond to calls from non-residents visiting Williamsburg.

 

Surely they would not provide EMS or emergency room services to non-residents. And using a hospital within the city limits for non-emergency services would be right out.

 

They probably don't send the fire department to car fires that are effecting non-resident cars parked within the city limits.

 

Does Williamsburg allow non-residents to use ball fields or parks? Or do they issue all the little league and soccer players a residency card that is checked at the sideline? Are there public golf courses within the city limits that restrict play to only residents (rather than just giving them priority or charging more to non-residents)?

 

And just as important, does Williamsburg receive consideration from outside the city? Are its residents able to get a library card in Virginia Beach? Do they have mutual aide agreements with fire departments outside the city? Do they send their fire fighters or police officers to larger cities for training?

 

Government funding is an aggregation of money earned by private citizens and then aquired by the government, usually by taxes, but also through fees for services (like emergency services, parks programs, library fines, and parking meters).

 

Maybe we should put together a reading list on the role of the library in supporting an educated citizenry and the methods of government funding of services. Sounds like the library will have a lot fewer patrons to keep him busy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...