Beware the library industrial complex

Dear Editor,

Most people in Woodstock want to see an improved library building. I do. We love our library, its programs and staff. We could have easily voted to renovate the old library and add on to it, AND WE CAN STILL DO THAT NOW! So what’s the problem?

There is a lack of real dialogue. A new, well-run survey would help. The trustees dismiss reasonable advice. Why? We have all heard President Eisenhower’s warning to beware the “military industrial complex.” Well, in an ironic way, there is a “library industrial complex” which influences our trustees.

Let’s draw a distinction between two aspects of this discussion: 1) the wonderful programs and services that libraries provide, and 2) the business of constructing new libraries.

When this debate moves away from facts, then our sympathies are manipulated. Oh, they say, don’t you love the programs that are provided for our children? Don’t you love the services and staff? Surely you will spend whatever is necessary to build a new library according to industry standards. There are architectural studies and recommendations, all with grand projections that promote a large building. It will “last for 50 years!”

Rather than using patriotism and fear, here our natural inclination to have a wonderful library is manipulated.

The fact that our library can be renovated AND expanded for our children and last for decades is not good enough for those who have succumbed to the rationales of the library industrial complex. Support libraryalliance.com.

Sam Magarelli Woodstock, N.Y.