CONTACTING US
NEWSROOM: ADDRESS:
(541)346-5511 Oregon Dally Emerald
E-MAIL: P.O. B0X3159
ode@oregon uoregon edu Eugene. Oregon 97403
ONLINE EDITION: www uoregon edu/~ode
m
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Sarah Kickler
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Mike Schmierbach
NIGHT EDITOR
Mike Schmierbach
Public should demand peaceful library
while we support building
a new library, the focus
should be books
Students at the University are for
tunate in at least one respect: We
have access to books. Hundreds of
thousands of books. Entire floors
filled with shelf after shelf of books.
Other Eugene residents aren’t quite so
fortunate. While the Eugene Public Li
brary also holds books, the aging facility
in which they sit is small, cramped and
more than a little musty.
For years, community members have
been struggling to update the library. It
is an admirable cause, but until recently
it has seemed to be a hopeless one.
Now, however, there are signs the sit
uation may finally be changing. The City
Council has allocated $18 million of ur
ban renewal funds to go to building a
new library facility.
Assuming the council follows through
on this pledge and library supporters are
able to raise the remaining $7 million
needed to cover the total cost of the
new library, Eugene residents can fi- -A
nally look forward to a facility that
will allow them to enjoy books.
There are some barriers that must be
dealt with, however. Foremost is the on
going difficulty library supporters have
had getting voters to approve tax levies
for library costs.
As Register-Guard reporter Joe Kidd
pointed out in a detailed article on the
library situation Sunday, earlier levies
have failed by narrow margins — first 1
percent and then 0.25 percent. Even if a
majority of voters can be persuaded to
support the library, the measure could
still fail in a September balloting if more
than half of registered voters do not cast
ballots.
If Measure 53, which would repeal the
double-majority requirement, passes
this spring, that concern would become,
thankfully, irrelevant. We certainly hope
Oregon voters display the wisdom to
vote yes on 53, but library supporters
should not bank on it.
As Kidd noted, library backers could
avoid the double-majority dilemma by
placing a measure on the November bal
lot; the requirement doesn’t apply to cer
tain general elections. Unfortunately, the
better plan is probably to try to pass the
measure in September, thereby avoiding
the glut of funding measures already
CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald
AH EMERALD EDITORIAL
piannea ior me November election.
Obviously, it is in the best interest of
Eugene community members to back a
library levy in September. Libraries are
important because they can store vital
materials and present them in a manner
that allows everyone, no matter what
class, access.
University students should also be in
terested in seeing the library gain addi
tional funding. No research facility is
complete, and the University library has
seen cutbacks that have rendered its in
formation gaps more noticeable.
The Eugene Public Library certainly
won’t be able to fill most of those gaps,
but it will inevitably manage to provide
information, particularly about the Eu
gene community, that students will find
valuable and would be otherwise inac
cessible. Currently, though, the poor
condition of the city’s library facility
drives many students away.
While we urge all community mem
bers, including students, to support
funding a new library facility, we do
have concerns about the way the money
will be spent. It is important to continue
to view the library as a repository of
books and journals, rather than as a mul
timedia entertainment center.
There are reasons to be worried. A sto
ry accompanying Kidd’s piece in the
Guard described a tour city officials took
of other area libraries.
Included in this tour were “story
telling rooms for kids, computers with
CD-ROM drives, small rooms for watch
ing library videos and Internet plug-ins
for people who bring their own laptop
computers.” Such “luxuries" should be
approached with caution.
Libraries are primarily designed to be
quiet institutions where patrons can
gather information, mostly from books
and magazines. Electronic additions to
this quiet refuge shouldn’t interfere with
that mission.
Unfortunately, they often do. Accord
ing to an article by Sallie Tisdale in the
March 1997 Harper’s, more than 40 per
cent of materials expenditures (which are
already an alarmingly small portion of
many library’s budgets) are spent not on
books or periodicals, but on technology.
If that technology represented a
cheaper and more efficient way to relay
the information contained in books, it
would be welcome. Sadly, as Tisdale ex
plained, it does not.
In particular, the monetary cost of ex
panding library technology is high. “Be
yond the original costs of hardware, soft
ware, installation and training — and
the ongoing costs of replacing all this
equipment, given the rapid obsolescence
of electronic technology — there are the
much higher losses possible with van
^ dalism and theft and the costs of sig
rnificant staffing changes to be con
sidered,” Tisdale wrote.
Additionally, the fleeting and dynam
ic electronic mediums come at the cost
of book purchases, leaving citizens with
a library that fails in its role as commu
nity repository. The first books to go are
often the most compelling, controversial
and creative — in short, the sorts of ma
terials that cannot be found on the in
creasingly business-oriented Internet.
ui a niuit; aesimuic concern, Dili cen
tral to Tisdale’s worries, is the loss of
_ quiet space. Story rooms and CD-ROM
based “educational” games may draw
patrons, but they chase away the re
searchers for whom the concept of a li
brary was developed. Tisdale makes a
valuable claim: Libraries that showed
blockbuster movies might draw more at
tendees, but they wouldn’t really be cre
ating any new library patrons.
If bringing more youth into the library
system requires turning it into a video
arcade, there doesn’t seem to be much
point in drawing the children in at all.
Libraries should serve as community re
sources, not amusement parks.
These are important considerations
for those in the City Council to weigh,
especially given the tight budget the li
brary will be under. Wasting money on
noisy machinery that quickly becomes
obsolete is not a good use of thinly
spread community resources.
Therefore, we heartily encourage com
munity support of a new library branch,
but we beg city officials to ensure that
what is built is in fact a library and not
merely a holding pen for those seeking
information overload.
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial hoard. Responses may he
sent to ode@orepon.uoregon.edu.
READERS’ VOICES
Is it time to put Jerry Seinfeld out to pasture?
“I don't watch TV
that much. It’s up to
him if he doesn't
want to make any
more money.”
Stacy Hall
East Asian Literature
and Languages
“Wow. I don't
watch Seinfeld that
often. From what
I’ve heard I think he
will probably go
down as one of the
great comedians like
Jackie Gleason and
all of them. I’ve nev
er got a chance to
watch it that much,
but I’ve heard he’s
really funny.”
Zach Swanson
History
“I don’t really
watch TV, but I do
like Seinfeld since I
haven’t seen it
enough to be an
noyed.”
Jai Roberts
Graduate Student
“Nah."
Lara Moore
University Employee
“No, I think he is
overreacting. I think
the show would be
drawing a large
crowd even though I
don’t watch the
show.”
Ryan Begley
Humanities
“Yes, I think that
he is leaving at his
prime, and that’s
something fresh in
TV because most of
the series just go on
until all of us wish it
was over. This is
leaving us on a good
note.”
Kyle Swanson
History
L-jjmm_JMii l
“I have only seen
the show a couple of
times. I could not
care less about Jerry
Seinfeld.”
JoeTroxel
Environmental
Studies
F
Correction
Thestoiy, “Court
hears first cases on
elections,” (ODE, May
13) misidentified Matt
Gross. The Emerald re
grets the error.
Letters Policy
The Emerald accepts
letters from members of
the University and Eu
gene community,
preferably under 400
words. Shorter letters
will receive higher prior
ity. Letters can be sub
mitted in person at
EMU, Suite 300, mailed
toP.O. Box 3159, Eu
gene, OR, 97403, ore
mailed to ode@ore
gon.uoregon.edu.
Please include your full
name and telephone
number for confirma
tion. The Emerald re
serves the right to edit
for length or style: