So as Erie County Parks reopen, it’s time to finally start closing down libraries. Almost half of all of the public libraries in Erie County were slated to be axed, but that number has backed down in recent weeks. The real resistance to this budget slashing maneuver may grow more urgent in the upcoming back-to-school season, when parents begin to realize that an important educational asset, their local library, is being taken away from them for good.

Advocates of library closings point to the large number of libraries serving Erie County compared to other places, and also to the belief that young children can become better readers through computer training. These seem to be the best arguments that have been mustered thus far.

In reality, many of the libraries about to be closed were at one point in time, the physical manifestation of the very concept of the public square in American life. Does the fact that they no longer serve that function prove that they are a superfluous waste of money or are we as a society are in the process of sacrificing that physical and psychological space?

At the present many of the libraries set for closure are in wealthy suburban communities. If we employ library usage as the main criteria for closure, we may see more inner city facilities put on the list. What type of society is it that we wish to create? Why, one with lower taxes, of course! In fact, if we follow the libertarian logic of the tax revolters, the very existence of libraries serves as an unfair tax burden on non-readers, and a disincentive for the poor to earn enough money to buy their own damn books!