Taxes And Your Public Library

Generally speaking, we pay too much tax. Income tax, property tax, sales tax, you name it, we pay too much of it. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out, just pick up the paper any day and you will read about some sort of local, state, or federal goverment fraud and abuse of taxpayer money. Taxpayer money wouldn't be wasted if there wasn't too much of it.

Having said that - and having made it clear that I am nothing if not a warrior for the taxpayer - there are some services for which I don't mind being taxed. Police and fire protection, utilities, that sort of thing. Basically, if we need it to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, or promote the general welfare, that's cool. Otherwise, we should not be taxed for it.

Which brings me to the topic of public libraries. Now, I don't think public libraries are evil. My family has benefitted in countless ways from the availabily of a nice public library. But let's get real: They are in many ways a multi-million (billion?) dollar taxpayer boondoggle.

Look, we don't need a nice public library in every stinking town. I travel Iowa a lot, and I'm telling you, damn near every little town has at least one bar, one convenience store, and one library. That may seem nice, but the thing of it is, neither the bar nor convenience store are taking money out of people's pockets whether they use them or not. And no - not every suburb in every city needs one either. Ever heard of sharing services?

Also, we don't need public libraries to be everything to everybody. These days they are all apparently required to have computers with internet access, DVD movies, and perhaps even a little coffee shop. What ever happened to just being a quiet place to read or to loan out books? Oh, and they don't need to be housed in multi-million dollar buildings, either.

So where's the outrage for the over-abundance and over-indulgences of these taxpayer funded libraries? I suppose it's a little bit like kicking a cat - while many people may want to do that, it isn't going to be a real popular target with most folks. And let's face it, there are worse expenditures of tax money.

But let's at least be honest - we could find less expensive ways to promote the general welfare.