Editorial: Leave libraries alone. They more than pay their way.
Our public libraries serve as a great equalizer, offering the chance for anyone — rich and poor alike — to access great novels, nonfiction and literature without spending a dime. Budgetary concerns notwithstanding, throwing library funding into limbo is a terrible idea.
Amid a flurry of executive orders from President Donald Trump creating uncertainty in many corners of our lives, a recent order targets the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which provides federal funding that supports local libraries.
There's much to support when it comes to identifying wasteful spending — and cutting it.
This is not one of those instances. The IMLS doles out $267 million in grants to public libraries. This funding pales in comparison with Medicaid and Social Security and countless other federal expenditures. As Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias pointed out, it's just 0.003% of federal spending. Eliminating it isn't going to make a dent in America's $2 trillion deficit.
But it may well put at risk vital services like access to books your library system doesn't have but can obtain from a sister system. And these funds support upkeep for library buildings — a cost libraries struggle on their own to handle.
To be sure, if federal funds dry up, local libraries will continue to function. Those of us who pay property taxes know that residents contribute a fair amount to their local library districts.
Still, it seems to us a priority to keep our nation's libraries strong, especially given our country's worrisome literacy problem. Just a third of American kids can read at grade level. In Illinois, about 20% of adults are illiterate.
The Aurora Public Library District is very concerned about the proposed elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Executive Director Michaela Haberkern said library users benefit every day from statewide delivery services that are partly funded by the IMLS.
'Everyone deserves a healthy and strong public library, and the elimination of the only federal agency that supports museums and libraries is a disservice to us all,' she said.
We agree.
As one thoughtful reader pointed out earlier this week, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is part of a coalition of attorneys general that filed a lawsuit hoping to stop the dismantling of IMLS, and 11 of our 17 members of Congress signed an open letter questioning IMLS' elimination.
Our forebears understood the power of access to knowledge. 'An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people,' as Thomas Jefferson put it.
This board wholeheartedly supports the notion of an electorate that can think critically, discerning for themselves when an idea is good and questioning when it's flawed — and being able to explain why. Of course, educated minds will disagree on certain issues, but isn't that the point? Informed opinions from informed people foster open-mindedness and discussion, something that fuels thriving, supportive communities. What we see all too often today is closed-minded, us-versus-them thinking, with many hewing to whatever a political party or leader tells them.
For now, we encourage readers to make use of the libraries in their communities — and read. Now's a great time to check out Susan Orlean's 'The Library Book,' an engrossing examination of libraries and their role in American society, or Friedrich Hayek's 'The Road to Serfdom,' a classic warning against tyranny and centralized control.
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"When societies generate more elite aspirants than there are roles to fill, competition for status intensifies," Savolainen wrote. "Ambitious but frustrated people grow disillusioned and radicalized. Rather than integrate into institutions, they seek to undermine them." Peter Turchin forecasted a spike in unrest around 2020, driven by economic inequality, elite overproduction, and rising public debt. Peter Turchin forecasted a spike in unrest around 2020, driven by economic inequality, elite overproduction, and rising public debt. Courtesy of Peter Turchin Savolainen warned that Trump-era policies—such as the dismantling of D.E.I. and academic research programs and cuts to public institutions—have the potential to accelerate the pattern, echoing the unrest of the 1970s. "President Trump's policies could intensify this dynamic," he noted. "Many are trained in critique, moral reasoning, and systems thinking—the very profile of earlier generations of radicals." 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They are systemwide pressures building for years, playing out in feedback loops. "Unfortunately," he told Newsweek, "all these trends are only gaining power."
