Comments on A Certain Bent Appeal: Privatization of the Toronto Public Library isn't ...

Awesome! Nice post!

2011-08-20T01:32:51.943-04:00

Awesome!
Nice post!

Excellent, excellent article. The world needs free...

2011-08-15T13:50:16.546-04:00

Excellent, excellent article. The world needs free and open places for the interchange of intelligent ideas. We can't all be shut away typing at computers (he says while shut away typing at a computer). I'm planning my Book and a Martini Live! tour for early 2012 precisely in fund-raising support of libraries in any community that wants me. Raise money, raise awareness, raise a glass.

You asked: "is the petition really a defense ...

2011-07-29T16:38:46.538-04:00

You asked:
"is the petition really a defense of libraries as a sacred institution or a defense of union jobs?"

Why can't it be both? What is wrong with library employees being part of a union? Anyone for that matter?

Thanks August for your analysis! First off, Mark p...

2011-07-25T10:47:04.953-04:00

Thanks August for your analysis! First off, Mark pointed out this post to me that forwards data that indeed privatization not only saved the government money, but improved service level in a variety of ways. http://reason.org/blog/show/why-the-new-york-times-and-library
Second, might not our library system be better off managed by a private company than a municipal government headed by Ford?

That budget deficit is completely scare-tactic BS....

2011-07-25T07:44:50.660-04:00

That budget deficit is completely scare-tactic BS.
"In 2010, for example—the year Perks is referring to—the city faced a projected deficit of $821 million. After weeks of haggling, that number was balanced without any significant service cuts at all, and with just a 4 per cent tax increase for residents (lower for businesses)."
Ford is using standard operating procedure to

Thanks for this great write-up of the issue! I ten...

2011-07-23T22:53:33.891-04:00

Thanks for this great write-up of the issue! I tend to think that whatever Ford is doing isn't a good thing for those in the community who are less privileged, going by the things he says and has done so far anyway. What I've found, like you, seems to say privatizing doesn't do a lot. I think that government support is needed for libraries and that they should be community hubs.

There's a lot of this that I didn't know, ...

2011-07-23T18:11:13.635-04:00

There's a lot of this that I didn't know, and I'm glad you did the research (because I didn't), but even knowing all this, I still would have signed the petition.

For me the issue came down, not to the efficiency (or even quality) of the library or the way it is run, nor for saving unionized jobs (though I'd be in favour of that too; I think that part of why