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By John Owen

The Beacon

Was the Story Lady showing The Texas Chain Saw Massacre during Kiddy Time at the Edmonds Library?

It seemed as though that might have been the case because when I looked through the window there wasn't a soul in view. It was as though everybody was hiding under or behind a chair.

Then I noted the sign on the front door:

"Sorry, Computers Down Today."

That explained it. All the library had to offer that day last spring was books.

In The Olden Days, that seemed to be sufficient. The librarian told you to "Shuuush!"

And depending upon your age and needs she pointed you toward the appropriate stack of books. You didn't visit the library to call up pratfall videos on You Tube, to check out an R-rated French movie or to beef up your CD collection with the addition of a hard core punk group called "Bad Brains." You can fulfill all these needs currently at Edmonds Library.

All Sno-Isle libraries are competing against Blockbuster, Netflix and ITunes.

Is it any wonder that the system seems to be stretched thin, economically?

Budget cuts totaling $1.2 million are planned for 2010 along with a request for a library tax rate increase by voters. A reduction of library hours is also being considered.

Wouldn't the current crisis be cured by a return to basic services? Well, maybe. But it seems that "basic services" have been redefined.

On a typical afternoon last week I visited the Edmonds Library and counted 15 visitors peering at computer screens. Two others had set up their own personal laptops.

At the same moment in time, two adults were scanning books in the non-fiction racks; only one woman was strolling past the fiction shelves. And four visitors were browsing through the film and music selections.

Some of my recent musical acquisitions from the library included Al Jolson and Gilbert and Sullivan selections. And one recent afternoon I checked out three DVD films, Days of Heaven, Through a Glass Darkly and Where Angels Fear to Tread.

Oh, I check out a lot of books, in print and on audiotape. And I feel strongly that the emphasis in any public library system should be on literature or learning.

I was shocked recently when a school librarian in this area argued that she was advancing the cause by finding "Graphic books" for several of her students because they were "too busy to read."

Nobody of any age over six should be "too busy to read." That's the key to learning. Especially on days at the Edmonds Library when signs warn that "Computers Are Down."