The Roxborough neighborhood lies in the northwest quadrant of Philadelphia, across the Schuykill River from I-76. It is racially mixed, blue and gray collar. Most families are either lower middle class or worse off.
Like those in Lancaster of affluent or modest incomes, families bring their young boys to the athletic field for Saturday club football contests; in their case just off Germantown Avenue.
Nestled against the athletic field and fronting on Germantown Avenue is the attractive, contemporary Lovett Branch of the Philadelphia Library system. While stretching his legs with a walk along the avenue, the Watchdog peered through the library’s large windows and noted the attractiveness of the interior. But when he ventured to enter, he was surprised to find the door locked and that the library was closed both Saturdays and Sundays.
Open weekdays and only two evenings a week, it is unlikely that school youngsters have as much as half a dozen discretionary hours a week to visit, and most of those would be consumed with travel, homework, chores and meals.
Here are thousands of youngsters within walking distance…the very youths we want to attract to education … deprived of a weekend refuge and learning opportunity.
It is indeed a sad sign of our times that such a needed facility remains in relative disuse because of budgetary problems.
Libraries today are much more than a repository of books. They are a community center, providing among Internet access, computers, media, educational programs, early learning opportunities, small business support, meeting space, training and other services. As importantly, they are an oasis where children and adults can escape from the chaos of home and find serenity and resources for study, research and recreation.
Although our Lancaster libraries haven’t yet adopted the short hours of the Lovett library, most are woefully underfunded by county, municipalities and private donors. The downtown Duke Street facility is closed all day Sunday. Fortunately it is yet able to offer hours Monday through Thursday from 10 am – 8 pm and Friday and Saturday from 10 am – 5 pm.
Efforts to expand and totally renovate the Duke Street facility were aborted in 2008 when $3 million of promised state funds were rechanneled to defray construction cost deficits of the Convention Center.
The Watchdog comes from a generation that took pride in building libraries, renovated them as needed, and funded their seven day operations. At a time when there is as much public need as ever (Well over a thousand people a day utilize the Duke Street facility), It is sad to see them run down and antiquated.
Back in the early 90s, I worked as a stringer for the Ledger Newspapers, covering public meetings in Colerain and Little Britain townships.
Having recently moved to the area from NJ, I was unaccustomed to the local brand of rural conservatism. Attending those meetings–often opened in prayer led by a local pastor–was a full-immersion baptism in Southern End ways.
At one meeting, a township supervisor read aloud from a Lancaster Library request for funds–an annual letter that was (apparently) mailed to all townships and boroughs, seeking financial support. The letter suggested a modest contribution, based on township population and assumed usage.
The ensuing conversation went something like this:
Supervisor 1: “Why should we give money to the library when we’re already paying taxes for schoolbooks?”
Supervisor 2: “I borrowed a book from the library once. Brought it back, they told me it was late. Made me pay a fine.”
Supervisor 3: [Drops letter into waste can.] “Next order of business?”
Do we really care….? What? We spend more on education than any society on earth. Of course we care. If test scores are any indication, we care much more than those we are trying to educate.
IMO, a big problem with the library system in Lancaster is a lack of organization.
$7 million of valuable funding was wasted building the Manheim Twp library just 3.3 miles from the downtown library and within walking distance of very few people. This was a terrible allocation of resources.