Bill White: Nazareth library officials were shellshocked

this is brilliant! If you haven't seen the colbert report....search "library" on his website...awesome! He did a follow up 2 nights ago, by the way, and said that the boy was granted access until the end of the year. The library and town of Nazareth couldn't ask for better publicity.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, pass the buck, blame Tatamy, the Colbert Report, etc. etc.

What on earth possesses people to make a call about a FIRST GRADER having an "illegal" library card? If there is blame to go around, the caller is the jerk to point to, some busybody with a chip on their shoulder.

Nazareth gets what it deserves!

Thanks Bill for publishing THE TRUTH! If this boy wants a library card and access to Nazareth library then he and his family should campaign for Tatamy to support the library financially-where do people think the money to keep the library comes from? Libraries are supported through local funds. Anyone is welcome to go in and "use" the library, but in order to check out materials, you must have a card.

BTW-I am from Nazareth and pay my Nazareth taxes

Why don't you have a county library system like Buck County, where anyone who lives in the county can go to any branch and take out books? Local library doesn't have the book? They'll get it from another branch. Homebound? They'll mail you books at no costs. It's like you're living in the Dark Ages, having local libraries with varied services and collections.

this is hilarious

I loved the "Colbert Report" segment about the kid, because I know what it's like not to be able to get a library card at another local library because MY town's library doesn't belong to "the system". I'd have to pay a $100/year fee to use that library (NOT Nazareth). It's not fair, except that it *is* fair because my library had an opportunity to join "the system" and it never did.

Now, I'm a librarian and our library offers universal access to state residents who can produce valid ID and a current proof of address (a postcard will do). We have a superb summer reading program which attracts hundreds of kids. I would have fought like heck if I were Dominick to get into a summer reading program as good as Nazareth's.

Some people in the Oley Valley (Berks County) want a library and they've formed a committee, according to the Reading Eagle. There are knuckleheads in the community who don't want to pay a $5 or $10 per capita tax to support it "because people can get books at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, etc." It's a shame that Oley may not get a community library because of this kind of "I don't want to pay any more taxes because I am taxed enough" nonsense.

Libraries benefit everyone sooner or later. At least they keep kids off the street in the afternoons and are quiet places for retired and unemployed people in the mornings. Libraries offer more than just books - aside from lending CDs, books on CD, and DVDs and providing access to the Internet, there's good programming for everybody. Libraries foster community spirit. There are few public servants who will work harder for you than a librarian.

If you don't have a library card, go get one. It will help state reimbursement rates and will give you a door to new opportunities. And chat with the librarian for a few minutes...it might be the best part of that day for you.

Thanks, Bill! Your article laid out the facts in the clearest possible way. Nazareth Library has nothing to apologize for.

I wonder if Tatamy is at all embarrassed by this coverage. They damn well should be. It's time they step up to the plate and support full library service for their residents.

Librarian wrote:

I wonder if Tatamy is at all embarrassed by this coverage. They **** well should be.

Wow, the MC bleeps out the "dam" word, but routinely allows ugly epithets, race-baiting, and completely off-topic responses. That's what you get with a non-human moderating system.

Librarian wrote:

<quoted text>
Wow, the MC bleeps out the "dam" word, but routinely allows ugly epithets, race-baiting, and completely off-topic responses. That's what you get with a non-human moderating system.

Librarian, you've just illustrated the need for libraries - the community needs people who are capable of combining the concepts of the First Amendment and the Library Bill of Rights when dealing with a public resource or shared "good" - in this case Topix.

Librarians of one political mindset have the moral obligation to provide materials to users who may have a contradictory mindset in fairness to the the people using the library they manage. The library is a community as well as a community-owned resource. Topix is to the sharing of opinions what a conservative television news channel is to fairness and accuracy in reporting.

Libraries work exactly unlike Topix.