Library-related Quotes & Statistics
as seen in the MHLS Bulletin
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Marketing
& PR Library-related Quotes & Statistics as seen in the MHLS Bulletin |
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Quotes: "True
word of mouth emanates from a grassroots-driven community that inspires
passion and customer evangelism. It's a sustainable, long-term form of
word of mouth that can build brands. There's countless ways to think about
making that happen, which is part of the challenge." "The
closest you will ever come in this life to an orderly universe is a good
library." "It is virtually impossible to succeed today without access to computers and the Internet. For the millions of people who don't have those tools at home, the public library helps level the playing field." “Unfortunately, many of our libraries are continually being asked to do more with the same or less money and staffing. Libraries are a vital “third place” for people of all ages and backgrounds. We must work together to find and fund solutions that balance the range of community needs while keeping our libraries open to all.” “Every time someone looks in a library and doesn't see something or someone that indicates that this library is for him, we've missed another opportunity." “Trusteeship by definition is the agency of a person (or persons) designated to act as governor or protector over property belonging to another.” "Libraries are
a vital "third place" for people of all ages and backgrounds.
We must work together to find and fund solutions that balance the range
of community needs while keeping our libraries open to all." "Mayor Rob Liffland,
on behalf of the Village of Pawling, has declared the month of February
as library lovers' month. His proclamation stated that "the Pawling
Free Library enables individuals to make informed decisions about their
self-governance by promoting unrestricted access to information and by
serving as a community center for lifelong learning." "Increasingly,
libraries are the third place for people, there's home and work and the
third place. For some people, its church; for some, it's the coffee house;
for some people - especially teens - it's the library." "How should
I know?" snapped Mary Poppins. "I'm not a Public Library!" "My two favorite
things in life are libraries and bicycles. They both move people forward
without wasting anything. "Many children…have
been saved from lives of ignorance simply because "It is even
possible to imagine that many books and stories may not see the light
of print at all; they will go into the hands of their readers or hearers
rather, as phonograms." "The more that
you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the
more places you'll go." "The library
is about building community." "As the Library
nears the centennial of Julia Hasbrouck Dwight's 1909 gift of the 1798
house to the community for a library, it is time to focus again on the
houses and prepare them for the next 100 years." "22% of current
library patrons are 55+. The number of people over 65 will double in the
next 25 years." "This shows
the people understand how the demands on the library have been growing." "Finally, local
residents smartly supported their libraries. The largest investment came
in Poughkeepsie, where both city and town residents authorized $14.5 million
in spending to expand and renovate the historic Adriance Memorial Library. "You can never
have enough information." "Public Internet
access in libraries is now nearly 100 percent, compared to just 21 percent
10 years ago. Wireless access in libraries has doubled in just the last
two years. Yet roughly 80 percent of libraries reported flat funding in
the past three fiscal years, representing a loss in buying power when
coupled with inflation. Seventy percent of libraries reported in 2006
that they cannot afford to upgrade or replace aging workstations." "The library
connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature,
of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from
the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring
and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge
of the human species. I think the health of our civilization, the depth
of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern
for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries." "The whole
series has been wonderful!" "Libraries
are essential to the functioning of a democratic society and the great
symbols of the freedom of the mind." "Some people
have asked why Saland's $20,000 grant could not be used to defray Howland's
operating costs. The answer: The grant came from state funds set aside
for construction and technology, not for day-to-day operations. Library
grants seldom cover operations. Every community is responsible for the
fiscal health of its library." "Over the last
year, the staff of MHLS and I have worked with you and visited your libraries.
We have witnessed the continual improvement of service and the dedication
of staff and volunteers in providing the best possible library service
to our communities. We believe that public libraries are one of the cornerstones
of democracy and one of the building blocks of a strong community." "If I had to
pick a favorite, I couldn't. They're all really interesting." "This is not
just good for the environment, but it is also an efficient use of tax
dollars." "[The computers]
are functioning, but they're outdated and I'm holding some of the wires
together with duct tape, I'd like to get rid of the duct tape." "What can I
say? Librarians rule." "Libraries are
fun, educational and the biggest bargain on the face of the earth." "The security
of the nation depends on knowledge and community. The library gives us
both." "A good heavy
book holds you down. It's an anchor that keeps you from getting up and
having another gin and tonic." -Roy Blount, Jr., U.S. Humorist "A library is
truly a magical place." -David Blaine, Illusionist and NYS Summer
Reading Program Spokesperson, "Illusionist inspires kids to see magic
in reading," Poughkeepsie Journal, 7.15.06 "My Dad makes
me smile when he takes me to the library." -Chung-Wing Ko, grade
1, Gayhead Elementary, "Smile, Dad!," Poughkeepsie Journal,
6.18.06 "Yes, indeed
the library is community in the true sense of the word. It is all of us
and it is for all of us. It is this special place in Patterson made up
of the people who gather here. It is also a place that provides services
to people in return. How cool is that?" - "The Library As
Community: The Internet," Patterson Library News, Vol. 5, Issue 2,
Summer 2006 "The single
most important thing to remember about any enterprise is that there are
no results inside its walls. The result of a business is a satisfied customer."-
Peter Drucker, Author, professor and management consultant "If we want
to transform boys into lifelong readers, we need to discover what makes
them tick." -Michael Sullivan, "Why Johnny Won't Read,"
School Library Journal, 8.1.04, http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA439816.html "A "public
good" is 'a good or service that can be consumed by everyone and
from which no one can be excluded.' A public library is a public good."
-Phyllis Keaton, Howland Public Library Director, Letter to the Editor
of the Poughkeepsie Journal, 6.3.06 " Libraries
are about preserving democracy. Nothing less." -Janet Axelrod,
Trustee, Cambridge (MA) Public Library "One of my favorite
measuring tools for a program is how many kids say, "That was cool!
When can we do it again?" - RoseMary Honnold, Young Adult Services
Coordinator, Coshocton Public Library, Coshocton, OH "… Libraries
are for the people. If the people don't stand up for libraries, who will?"
- Doug Roesemann, President, Friends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA) at the
2005 FRIENDS MATTER event "The Internet
is largely meritocratic in its design... If [people] like the search engine
A9 better than Google, they vote with their clicks. Is it a problem, then,
if the gatekeepers of the Internet (in most places, a duopoly of the local
phone and cable companies) discriminate between favored and disfavored
uses of the Internet? To take a strong example, would it be a problem
if AT&T makes it slower and harder to reach Gmail and quicker and
easier to reach Yahoo! mail?" -Tim Wu, "Why You Should Care
About Network Neutrality - The future of the Internet depends on it!,"
Slate Magazine, 5.1.06 [http://www.slate.com/id/2140850/] "Those who cannot
afford the premium rates - nonprofits, the public sector, libraries, schools,
and colleges - would be relegated to the equivalent of third-class mail,"
American Library Association Washington Office Executive Director Emily
Sheketoff told American Libraries. "This legislation has an impact
not only on libraries and their ability to deliver first-class service
to patrons, but to the general public as well." -"Net Neutrality
Fight Heats Up in Congress," American Libraries, 5.5.06 "Freedom of
speech, freedom of the press, freedom of thought, the whole ball of wax
- "Getting my
library card was like citizenship; it was like American citizenship."
-Oprah Winfrey "A library's
image is composed of everything in and about the library that a client
encounters. This includes all the paper and products your library generates:
fax cover sheets, routing slips, and overdue notices, as well as research
findings, current awareness lists, and database reports. Everything from
the library newsletter to the notepaper you use to communicate to clients
- all of it projects an image [that] represents your library, and its
services and staff to the client." - Christine Olson, Test your
Library's marketing IQ, Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 12(3), 1993. "The three most
important documents a free society gives are a birth certificate, a passport,
and a library card."- E. L. Doctorow, Author "I received
the fundamentals of my education in school, but that was not enough. My
real education, the superstructure, the details, the true architecture,
I got out of the public library. For an impoverished child whose family
could not afford to buy books, the library was the open door to wonder
and achievement, and I can never be sufficiently grateful that I had the
wit to charge through that door and make the most of it. Now, when I read
constantly about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut,
I can only think that the door is closing and that American society has
found one more way to destroy itself." "You cannot
defend a brand by promoting your features…FedEx is in the peace of
mind business, not shipping. What is at the very heart of why people turn
to libraries?" "It was their
efforts that kept this as an incredibly important issue that when the
opportunity presented itself, enabled us to deal with it," Senator
Steve Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, said of library proponents. "I give
them a lot of a credit for having the persistence and the fortitude. They
certainly had the right cause." - "State bolsters cash for
local libraries," Poughkeepsie Journal, 4.8.06, by Anthony Farmer
[FRONT PAGE] "I think the
health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings
of our culture, and our concern for the future can all be tested by how
well we support libraries." - Carl Sagan, astronomer, 1934-1996 Change Your World @your library. 2006 theme for National Library Week (April 2-8, 2006) "You think you're
pretty smart, right? So why buy when you can borrow?" -George
Lopez, actor/comedian, 2006 National Library Week PSA "A world of inspiration awaits you and all of your friends." [http://www.wyominglibraries.org/] "The library
is the linchpin of the community, if you diminish [the library], you are
diminishing the soul of the community." -Gloria Lipton, Kingston
resident, "Ulster's drastic library funds cut has dour impact,"
Poughkeepsie Journal, 3.17.06, Michael Woyton "All we offer
is free of charge, but not free of cost." -Pequot Public Library,
Southport, CT "There's too
much stuff on the internet. I did this one search and it came back with
2 million pages. "The future
exists today. It's just unevenly distributed." - William Gibson,
author "My son sometimes
thinks I'm a librarian too, which is great; that's my favorite fake job."
-Actress Jodie Foster on volunteering at her son's school library,
Entertainment Tonight Online, September 20, 2005. "The evidence
suggests that a lot of people vote in favor of library funding even if
they don't use a library themselves. They understand that a public library
is open to everyone, cradle to grave, whenever they choose to go there.
What other institution offers that kind of public access?" -Editorial,
The Independent, 11.4.05 "A curious assignment
for a pageboy at Parkman was the nightly hiding of the cash box. How much
could have been in it from a day of overdue book fines at a neighborhood
branch library? Three dollars? Nine? If I were going to burglarize this
place, I'd come with a reading list." -"The surprising things
I learned at the library," by Norman Prady, Christian Science Monitor,
1.27.06 "As several
residents put it, the construction of a new library facility in the Town
of Poughkeepsie is a 'once in a lifetime opportunity,'" Lawrence
said. "As a community, a consensus must be reached on the best possible
location." -Tom Lawrence, Director, Poughkeepsie Public Library
District, "District officials pull the plug on proposed Route 9 library,"
Poughkeepsie Journal, by Michael Valkys, 2.3.06 "The librarian
of today, and it will be true still more of the librarians tomorrow, are
not fiery dragons interposed between the people an the books. They are
useful public servants, who manage libraries in the interest of the public…Many
still think that a great reader, or a writer of books, will make an excellent
librarian. This is pure fallacy." -Sir William Osler, 1917 "I feel very
fortunate to have this job because I get to think of what would be fun."
-Eileen Pucci, Beekman Library Director of Programs, "Beekman
Library settling into new home," The Voice Ledger, 1.26.06 by Mitchell
Trinka "They always
say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."
- Andy Warhol, artist "Nothing endures
but change." - Heraclitis, Greek Philosopher "Excuse me,
but weren't libraries supposed to disappear?" -Howard Goodman,
"It's a brave new world at the Delray library," South Florida
Sun-Sentinel, 1.10.2006, http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-phoward10jan10,0,3940501.column "There are certain
words in life that should avoid the adjective overdue: milk, baby and
library books. While chunky two percent is hard to swallow, it's plenty
palatable compared to the bitter realization that "Fun and Fancy
Free" is three days overdue. After all, besmirching your upright
library patron status is neither fun or fancy free."-Garret Leiva,
"Overdue book reopens past chapters," Traverse City Record Eagle
(MI), 1.11.06 "Learning can't
stop at graduation. We rely on libraries to help us keep up-to-date on
knowledge that helps us in our jobs and in our lives. Libraries serve
as our window to the world." -Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of Kansas,
"Kansas Governor Says Libraries Key to Lifelong Learning," Kansas
City Info Zine, 12.30.05, http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/12138/ "Ideally, free
library access to all information, hard copy or electronic, should be
funded by taxes. We shouldn't have to depend on some charitable deus ex
machina. Andrew Carnegie understood this. His stipulation for each library
he built was that the government provide the operating costs. Every-one
who wants to insure the future of traditionally free public libraries
needs to tell that to their local, state and federal legislators."
-Reference librarian, Vivian Conan, "Net Costs," New York
Times, September 11, 2005 "You won't believe
this, but at one time I actually paid money for books and movie rentals.
I know. I can't believe it either. But now I know better. Brothers and
sisters, I've seen the light, and it's called the library." "We live in
an age of information, and libraries play a critical role in providing
us with access to that information. They are vital to our economy and
our communities. They promote literacy and lifelong learning*." "Cities can
be as status conscious as the rest of us. If your town doesn't have a
slick city hall or a multiplex cinema, you're not keeping up. "I would not
jump out of an airplane without a parachute. I would not walk across a
tightrope without a safety net and, I would not want to manage a Library
without the vital support services provided by the Mid Hudson Library
System." -Matt Pfisterer, director, Grinnell Library, Wappingers
Falls "It's all about
building and maintaining relationships, and trying to influence people." "I feel more
confidence and courage in myself." "…the result
of knowledge [gleaned from libraries] is to make men not violent revolutionists,
but cautious evolutionists; not destroyers, but careful improvers."
- Andrew Carnegie "The Library
is a core," said Jane Williams Tuesday Nov. 15 at Millbrook Free
Library's After School Craft Club. Williams has been coming to these activities
for the last six years with her children; Christian 7, Erin 6, and Stephanie
4. "I think it gives them a learning opportunity outside the classroom
and they get to meet new people they might not get to meet in school."
- "Crafty Kids in Millbrook," Millbrook Roundtable. 11.23.05.
Mitchell Trinka "Welcome to
a world no longer obsessed with the Dewey Decimal System and dusty books.
Local libraries have embraced the digital age, and found that staying
on the cutting edge just sharpens their mission - "Each local
library asking for funding is governed by a board of people who live in
the community and who will have to pay the tax too. No mandates here from
Albany or Washington. Just neighbors saying this is what the community
needs. "Even the most
enthusiastic library supporter will acknowledge that these proposals call
for a tax, which seems like a mighty unpopular idea these days. But library
propositions like these tend to win taxpayer support for a very simple
reason: Voters will pay for something that adds value to their lives and
to their community. Libraries do that." "We will indeed
make our own future. The reference librarian of the future will not be
symbolized as the woman sitting behind the desk, but as someone who is
readily accessible to everyone in the community and who provides individual
information services using whatever technologies become available. By
concentrating on the needs of our users, providing personal service, and
providing leadership in the information society, the reference librarian
will continue to perform an essential function for the community." "A library is
the ultimate university. Its teachers are books. It must offer as many
courses as possible, or the community it serves diminishes. And there
are plenty who would have it that way. They thrive in the diminished world." "The America
I loved still exists in the front desks of public libraries." "Public libraries
are some of our communities' greatest assets, "A good book
is the best of friends, the same today and forever. "Public sentiment
is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing
can succeed." "…For this
price, the services this library provides, from the ease of obtaining
a book or research material to the programs, such as the Library "The libraries
have become my candy store." "I hope I come
here next year!" "A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." -James Madison "The concept
is simple: read books, discuss." -From "Girls' Night Out
Gets Smart" about the growing nationwide trend of mother-daughter
book clubs in libraries and homes, Newsweek, 3.21.05 "You know you
can take home books from the library too, if you bring them back of course."
-Grover, Sesame Street, 1969 "Literacy is
the most basic currency of the information economy that we live in today."
- U.S. Senator Barack Obama, ALA Conference, June 2005 "There are few
sights sadder than a ruined book." -Lemony Snicket, author "Yes, yes. Now
Mr Phipps, of course you do realize that the post of librarian carries
with it certain very important responsibilities. I mean, there's the selection
of books, the record library, and the art gallery. Now it seems to me
that your greatest disadvantage is your lack of professional experience,
coupled with the fact that, uh, being a gorilla, you would tend to frighten
people." - From Monty Python's "Gorilla
Librarian" Sketch "Is it legal
to bury a body in your backyard? I need to know today." -question
posed to the Poughkeepsie Public Library District's Head of Borrower Services,
Nancy Foster, The Rotunda, Summer 2005 "The library
represents a window to a larger world, a place where we've always come
to discover big ideas and profound concepts that help move the American
story forward and the human story forward. And that's the reason why since
ancient antiquity, whenever those who seek power would want to control
the human spirit, they have gone after libraries and books." -
U.S. Senator Barack Obama, "Obama fears 'Big Brother' over our shoulders,"
Chicago Sun-Times, 6.26.05, by Rummana Hussain "…people
aren't going out to get information anymore. Instead, it's coming to them."
-The
Shifted Librarian "Be central to
the communities that you serve." -Leslie Burger, ALA President-elect,
ALA Conference, June 2005 "I did it! And
it's all thanks to the books at my local library." -Futurama,
"The Day the Earth Stood Stupid" episode, 2001 [TV series] "Either it's
murder, or this library has a very strict overdue policy."-Crosetti,
"Homicide: Life on the Street," 1993 [TV series] "They always
say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."-Andy
Warhol, artist "The library
is the temple of learning, and learning has liberated more people than
all the wars in history." -Carl Rowan, author "Jeffrey Grier
used the Business and Company Resource Center [database] to research a
product he wanted to market. "If I wanted to find this information
elsewhere, it would cost me between $1,000-$2,000 to purchase the same
research, which is why I came here," Grier said." -"State
librarians do anything but keep quiet," News 8 Austin (TX), 4.7.05 "[I]t's not just
the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never
be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear
of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers."
~Judy Blume, author "We uphold the
principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library
resources." ~ALA
Code of Ethics "In its traditional
sense, a library is a collection of books and periodicals. It can refer
to an individual's private collection, but more often, it is a large collection
that is funded and maintained by a city or institution, and is shared
by many people who could not afford to purchase so many books by themselves.
However, with the collection or invention of media other than books for
storing information, many libraries are now also repositories and/or access
points for maps, prints or other artwork, microfilm, microfiche, audio
tapes, CDs, LPs, video tapes and DVDs, and provide public facilities to
access CD-ROM databases and the Internet." ~Wikipedia entry for
"Library"
"Always read
stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it."
~ P. J. O'Rourke, columnist and author "We ought to
be increasing library hours and services. This is no time to be locking
up the books. "Do you have
a chart of all the different snowflake shapes? And, do you have a tape
of dinosaur sounds?" ~"Strangest or most unusual reference
question" reported to the NYLA Bulletin by B. Allison Gray of the
John Jermain Memorial Library, Spring 2005. "For the record,
it is a novel." ~Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code "What is more
important in a library than anything else - than everything else - is
the fact that it exists." ~Archibald MacLeish, poet, writer, Librarian
of Congress (1892-1982) "A circulating
library in a town is as an evergreen tree of diabolical knowledge! It
blossoms through the year!" ~Richard B. Sheridan, British playwright
and politician, 1751-1816 "Frustrations
come when you least expect them." ~Kingston Library Trustee Marvin
Eisenberg, "Library board, lacking quorum, unable to vote on budget
or borrowing," Daily Freeman, 4.22.05 "For it has been
rightly judged that, under political, social and religious Institutions
like ours, it is of paramount importance that the means of general information
should be so diffused that the largest possible number of persons should
be induced to read and understand questions going down to the very foundations
of social order... which we, as a people, are constantly required to decide,
and do decide, either ignorantly or wisely." ~1852 report of the
Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston, Upon the Objects
To Be Attained by the Establishment of a Public Library "Word of mouth
is the best medium of all." ~William Bernbach (American advertising
executive, 1911-1982) "Libraries are
cornerstones of every community, but they are also elements of a great
national experiment in free and democratic access to information and resources."
~Molly Turner, Viburnum Foundation “Volunteers … have style. They’re fiercely independent. If you have to ask how much they cost, you can’t afford them… They are the only human beings on the face of this earth who reflect the nation’s compassion, unselfishness, caring, patience, need, and just plain loving one another.” ~Erma Bombeck (1927-1996) Writer, Humorist “Librarians: more powerful than a Google search, friendlier than AskJeeves, and the best natural language processor on the market.” ~Erica Olsen, Librarian Avengers CEO and Head Duck “I think (the U.S.) should become a humanitarian superpower. We should stop dropping $60,000 bombs on people and start dropping $60,000 libraries on people.” ~ Eric Everhart, coordinator of the Toledo chapter of Food Not Bombs, Toledo (Ohio) City Paper, November 18-24, 2004. You ask, I'll answer. ~Email signature of Alice E. Hadley, MLS, AHIP(D), Medical Library, US Naval Hospital, Guam "Everything you need for better future and success has already been written. And guess what? All you have to do is go to the library." ~Jim Rohn, author and motivational speaker "There are times when I think that the ideal library is composed solely of reference books. They are like understanding friends, always ready to change the subject when you have had enough of this or that." ~ J. Donald Adams, author "The Internet may be the world's greatest library, but let's face it - all the books are scattered on the floor." ~D.C. Denison, Boston Globe “Only 38% of users are aware of the distinction between paid or “sponsored” results and unpaid results. And only one in six say they can always tell which results are paid or sponsored and which are not. This finding is ironic, since nearly half of all users say they would stop using search engines if they thought engines were not being clear about how they presented paid results.” ~Pew Internet & American Life Project Report, “Search Engine Users: Internet searchers are confident, satisfied and trusting – but they are also unaware and naïve,” 1.23.05 "We'd like to get back to normal, whatever that is," library director Patricia Kaufman said. "We've had to cope with a lot. The public — and our staff — has been great." ~Journal News, “Police searching for library suspect”, 1.22.05 [a story about the attempted arson at the Mahopac Public Library] “There are times when I long for the old card catalog system at the library. I used to like standing before the huge wooden drawers, flipping through the cards. The whole thing emitted a kind of wholesome, library aroma. You could just stand there and breathe in the smell of index cards and ink. Ahhh…” -Karen Orloff, Poughkeepsie Journal, 12.04 “My childhood library was small enough not to be intimidating. And yet I felt the whole world was contained in those two rooms. I could walk any aisle and smell wisdom.” ~U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove "I think that's the single most important issue the town is facing, I want to see some movement made in a positive direction with the library. What we need is something bigger and better." ~Councilman George Keeler, Pine Plains Town Board, speaking about the Pine Plains Free Library, The Millerton News, 1.6.05 “Not all of us can become experts in research, but librarians can. They can be the tutors who help laymen draw together the best from printed books, microfilmed newspapers, original documents, recordings and the Internet to help library users get the answers they seek. And learning, after all, is the ultimate purpose libraries have always served.” ~ Bob Caylor for the editorial board of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, 12.17.04 "In the nonstop tsunami of global information, librarians provide us with floaties and teach us how to swim." ~Linton Weeks, Washington Post article, 13 January 2001, p. C01 "If I'm going to go to the library, chances are somebody hasn't paid a librarian 100 bucks to point me to a particular book." ~Beau Brendler, director of the Consumer Reports WebWatch, “ Students shun search for information offline,” Associated Press, 12.9.04 “The more I think about it, the more I realize that there is a certain degree of sadness to the increase in technology. Yes, it enables us to get more things accomplished in a shorter period of time. But have we become too reliant upon it? Will there always be someone like a librarian who can put back the pieces if the system falls apart? Who will be the keepers of knowledge if society breaks down and everyone is running around Mad-max style, with dune buggies and football pads? But for now we have librarians, and for that, I am very grateful.” ~Dave Bachtel, excerpted from “A Tale of Two Libraries,” 10.27.04 “We need [libraries] more than ever. The Internet is full of 'stuff' but ... 'stuff' doesn't give you a competitive edge; high-quality, reliable information does." ~Patricia Schroeder, president, American Association of Publishers “Libraries are not made; they grow.” ~ Augustine Birrell, (1850-1933), “Book Buying". Obiter Dicta. “We must all, librarians, trustees and friends alike, continue to make our needs known to our legislators and municipalities, as publicly as possible.” ~Camilla von Bergen, President, MHLS Board of Trustees, 11.19.04 “Excellence must be defined locally. It is a result of providing library services that match community needs, interests, and priorities.” ~Public Library Association’s Results Series, Assumption #1 “New York’s State Budget is almost $100 billion. Although libraries are used by a majority of New Yorkers – in far greater numbers than any other civic service – less than one-tenth of one percent of the State’s budgeted resources are spent on library service. At the same time, the public’s approval rating for library services is greater than 80%! How many other public services can claim that level of user satisfaction?” ~ Arthur L. Friedman, President of the New York Library Association, New York State Assembly Committee on Libraries and Education Technology Hearing on the Impact of the Governor’s 5% Cut in Library Aid, Rochester, NY, 10.20.0 “The opportunities and the challenges for libraries are both at a high point.” ~Diantha D. Schull, President, Libraries for the Future “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” ~Margaret Mead, anthropologist and writer “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” ~Anne Frank “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” ~Mother Teresa "It seems to
me that libraries stand, above all, for the enlightened and rational notion
that human beings are improved by the acquisition of knowledge and information
and that no bar should be placed in their way. We stand for the individual
human being pursuing whatever avenues of enquiry she or he wishes. We
also stand for rationalism as the basis for all of our policies and procedures
in libraries. Librarianship is a supremely rational profession and should
resist the forces of irrationalism both external and internal." ~Michael
Gorman, "The
value and values of libraries" “A circulating library in a town is as an evergreen tree of diabolical knowledge.” ~Richard Brinsley Sheridan, playwright & politician (1751–1816) "Plain decay of libraries is like Alzheimer's in the nation's brain." ~Ted Hughes, British report: “New Library: The People’s Network”, 1997 "Books seem to me to be pestilent things, and infect all that trade in them... with something very perverse and brutal. Printers, binders, sellers, and others that make a trade and gain out of them have universally so odd a turn and corruption of mind that they have a way of dealing peculiar to themselves, and not conformed to the good of society and that general fairness which cements mankind." ~ John Locke, British philosopher, 1632-1704 “A World Within Awaits You at the Grand Rapids Public Library.” “The local library is the college everyone goes to.” ~Commissioner of Education Richard P. Mills, 9.16.04 at Clarkson University in Potsdam “Stories and statistics are the building blocks of advocacy.” ~2004 NYS Outreach Conference You CAN get there from here . . . @your library. ~Maine State Library "Preserving Yesterday, Informing Today, Inspiring Tomorrow" ~ Daly City Library (CA) “The core of public library service is to provide truth…” ~ Dr. William Taber, NYSALB Trustee, Richfield Springs “Robert Bellah, the sociologist, has written, “Institutions are socially organized ways of paying attention.” The public library is the way America has paid attention to equity and lifelong, free choice learning.” ~Eleanor Jo Rodger, president of the Urban Libraries Council to Library Journal, June 15, 2004 “So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.” ~Kurt Vonnegut, “I Love You, Madame Librarian,” In These Times, 8.6.04 “A community’s view of itself and of learning, can be seen in its enthusiasm for its library and its identification with it as a cornerstone of the community.” ~Author, Toni Morrison, at the Desmond-Fish Library of Garrison’s tenth annual Associates Dinner, 2004 “Basically we’re in the people business.” ~Dan Holt, director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Poughkeepsie Journal, 8.4.04 "The public library has been historically a vital instrument of democracy and opportunity in the United States.... Our history has been greatly shaped by people who read their way to opportunity and achievements in public libraries." ~Arthur Meier Schlesinger, historian,1888-1965 "A library is an arsenal of liberty." ~Anonymous “I live to astonish, amaze, and astound…Those are things librarians do well.” ~Starr Lackawanna, Hoboken Librarian in Looking for Bobowicz by Daniel Pinkwater “Preserving the Past & Presenting the Future” ~ Baldwinsville Public Library, Baldwinsville, NY (1948-1998) “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson “Free to the People.” ~Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh “A book is a fragile creature, it suffers the wear of time, it fears rodents, the elements and clumsy hands...so the librarian protects the books not only against mankind but also against nature and devotes his life to this war with the forces of oblivion”. ~Umberto Eco On librarians of the year 1327 in his book, The Name of the Rose “My guess is about 300 years until computers are as good as, say, your local reference library in doing search. But we can make slow and steady progress, and maybe one day we’ll get there.” ~Craig Silverstein, Google director of technology, on CBS Sunday Morning, 3.28.04 “You become a reader because you saw and heard someone you admired enjoying the experience, someone led you to the world of books even before you could read, let you taste the magic of stories, took you to the library, and allowed you to stay up later at night to read in bed.” ~Jim Trelease, The New Read-Aloud Handbook “Libraries are the only toll-free entry to the information highway.” ~Gloria Steinem, 1994 NYLA Conference "One of the great joys of being a librarian is that it is the last refuge of the renaissance person - everything you have ever read or learned or picked up is likely to come in handy." - GraceAnne DeCandido "A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy." -James Madison “I’ve been drunk for about a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library.” ~F. Scott Fitzgerald U.S. author, An unnamed guest at one of Gatsby’s parties in The Great Gatsby “Nothing sickens me more than the closed door of a library.” -Barbara Tuchman, U.S. historian “We all know that books burn—but we have the greater knowledge that books cannot be killed by fire.” ~Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. President (Regarding libraries) “Here is where people, one frequently finds, lower their voices and raise their minds.” ~Richard Armour, British Author, 1906-1988 “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” ~Groucho Marx, U.S. comedian “I’m glad it happened in front of the library. I’ve always emphasized scholarship.” ~Doug Weaver, Former Kansas State University football coach, on being hanged in effigy. "When in doubt, go to the library.” ~from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” ~ Emilie Buchwald, 1994 "The libraries of America are and must ever remain the home of free, inquiring minds. To them, our citizens --of all ages and races, of all creeds and persuasions-- must be able to turn with clear confidence that there they can freely seek the whole truth, unvarnished by fashion and uncompromised by expediency." ~ President Dwight D. Eisenhower “Libraries are not made; they grow.” ~Augustine Birrell “This is where I’ll be spending a lot of time.” ~6-year-old Elijah Rizzuto Smith, at the newly opened, newly constructed Mahopac Library “I’m sort of like an information traffic cop.” ~Jim Cosgrove, Director of the Marlboro Free Library (Southern Ulster Times, March 17th, 2004) "A democratic society depends on an informed and educated citizenry" ~Thomas Jefferson “The more
that you read, "One gets thrilled and frightened at the same time in the presence of a library because it reminds one about one's past, present, and, most, of the possibilities of the future." ~ Bill Moyers "Access to knowledge is the superb, the supreme act of truly great civilizations. Of all the institutions that purport to do this, free libraries stand virtually alone in accomplishing this mission." ~Toni Morrison, American novelist (1931-) "Cuts in library budgets won't turn off the Internet for wealthy or middle-class families, it will turn off the Internet for people who have nowhere else to turn." ~ William H. Gates Sr., co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation “Information literate citizens are able to spot and expose chicanery, disinformation, and lies.” ~ALA, Presidential Committee on Information Literacy Final Report, 1989 "The computer is only a fast idiot, it has no imagination; it cannot originate action. It is, and will remain, only a tool to man." ~ American Library Association , On Univac computer exhibited at the 1964 NY World's Fair. "The three most important documents a free society gives are a birth certificate, a passport, and a library card." ~ E. L. Doctorow "Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries." ~ Anne Herbert “[In] a library there is all the recorded wit of the world.” ~Henry David Thoreau “The library is unlimited and cyclical.” ~Jorge Luis Borge "A library is not simply a repository of books, it is the symbol and center of our culture… a door and a window for those who might not otherwise have such doors and windows." ~Amy Tan, author "When I got my library card, that's when my life began." ~Rita Mae Brown "I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture, and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries." ~Carl Sagan The Vigo County Public Library is "easy to find. It's the million-story building at Seventh and Poplar streets." ~Lori Henson in her "Briefcases" column, Terre Haute Tribune-Star, 10/8/02 “All we offer is free of charge, but not free of cost.” ~ Pequot Public Library, Southport, CT "Doing research on the Web is like using a library assembled piecemeal by pack rats and vandalized nightly." ~ Roger Ebert, Yahoo! Internet Life column, Sept. 1998, p. 66 "If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all - except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our library." ~John F. Kennedy “Knowledge is free at the library. Just bring your own container.“ ~Unknown “A word after a word after a word is power.” ~Margaret Atwood “Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.” ~Lady Bird Johnson "This budget cut is a virus in the ultimate search engine." - library friend and trustee Bill Pontius of Rochester, NY during the March 18th, 2003 rally for libraries on the steps of the NYS Capitol “If information is the currency of democracy, then libraries are its banks.” -Wendell H. Ford, U.S. Senator, Kentucky, 1974-1998 “Libraries acquire what we cannot afford, retain what we prize and would adore, restore the worn, ignore the fashion, and repulse prejudice.” -author and Washington University Professor William Gass “You see, I don't believe that libraries should be drab places where people sit in silence, and that's been the main reason for our policy of employing wild animals as librarians.” - Monty Python “There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.” Andrew Carnegie “Many librarians perform their duties with a profound sense of responsibility: supported the foundations of democracy by ensuring free access to information.” NY Times reporter John Schwartz |
Statistics (General | MHLS-related) General The Independent Sector h |