Thieving Bastards

So I'm at work this past Saturday, and not long after we open, colleague Jerry asks me about internet access on this one PC.  Seems a patron couldn't access the internet on it.  She switches to another PC while I noodle around on the original PC.  Yup, can't access the internet, but I can't tell why.  (Note: I'm not a computer expert; I just use the internet and computers in general more than some co-workers, so they sometimes ask me computer-related questions.  As you'll soon read, I missed the obvious problem.)

So I send off an email to the director and the childrens' librarian (the latter has responsibility for our PCs) re: the lack of internet access there.  The childrens' librarian stops in to pick up some stuff for Medieval Day at Canalside Park.  She saw the email and took a quick look at the offending PC.  Turns out, some thieving bastard stole the wireless router and card!  Granted, it wasn't bolted down or secured, but that doesn't mean it's there for the taking!

Ya know, it's just a little town library, located in the basement and first floor of a 110 year old building, with a tiny staff and, I imagine, a relatively dinky budget.  The library and its resources - limited though they may be - are open to anyone (you just need a library card to take books out).  Anyone can come in and use the computers...and they do!  I see all manner of people using them for all kinds of stuff.  Email, games, school projects, paying bills, home projects, geneology (sp?), networking, doing resumes and job searches (that seems popular), researching personal interests, and on and on.  So what I'm saying is that this little library tries to do the best it can for whoever walks in the door or calls on the phone or emails or writes or whatever, and some dirtbag takes advantage of our hospitality by stealing the wireless equipment.

In other depressing, library-related news, the aldermens' vote failed to approve funding the new library.  The vote required a 2/3 majority.  The linked article notes that six aldermen voted and three were absent: two regular aldermen and the outgoing mayor.  The six voted 3-3.  I look forward to reading more about the issue in the papers; I'd like to know more about why three aldermen voted against the new library, when the citizens voted 'yes' to a new library in a non-binding referendum in November, 2004.  Yes, it was a very close vote, but it was a 'yes' in the end and I expect the opposing aldermen should have very good reasons for voting down funding a new library.  I'd also be very interested in whether or not those absent aldermen could have voted in absentia or via phone or something like that.  It's kind of an important issue to miss the vote.

The linked article re: the unsuccessful funding vote cites one citizen:

Essex Avenue resident Janet Bennett said that she objected to "implication that those who are against the library are against libraries and therefore against education."

"That's baloney," Bennett said.

"We didn't have a good idea of what we were getting," Bennett said.

I like to think that opponents to this particular new library proposal are not against spending and improving libraries and education in general.  I like to think that, as I said above, opponents will have valid reasons for opposing the library plan.  The article also mentions $500,000 cut from the school budget.  I can understand citizens who say, if the town is cutting $500,000 from the school budget, how can it give $5 million for a new library?  I like to think that, eventually, the town will build a modern library.

The $500,000 school budget cut brings me to another topic: Boonton public education.  Unfortunately, I cannot find the link now, but I believe Boonton's public school system came out pretty average (i.e., somewhere between 48% and 52%, IIRC) in a Star-Ledger statewide public schools ranking.  Now, obviously, being smack dab in the middle, i.e., being average, is not terrible.  But it's not great, either.  Here's where my personal bias becomes very obvious: Being average in providing a public school education is something one ought to want to change; to improve.

Anecdotal info: When we bought our house, it seemed like several older residents in the neighborhood were selling their homes to younger people at that time.  We bought our house from a widow who wished to downsize.  Several young neighbors moved in and started their families in this neighborhood.  Two families moved out of town before their kids started kindergarten.  One family moved after their oldest child finished kindergarten.  Although the public schools were not the sole factor in these families' moves, they were a factor.

The girl who finished kindergarten in town was one of  3-4 children out of approximately 20-25 children who knew their ABCs.  That is regrettable.  I remember learning my ABCs in kindergarten, but that was a long time ago.  Standards, expectations and opportunities were different.  Pre-school and daycare were uncommon and this was way before the Baby Mozart era.  In my opinion, learning your ABCs in kindergarten is too late nowadays.

I understand that there is a significant percentage of  (a) foreign-born children and (b) native-born children of recent immigrants in the school system.   I get the feeling these demographic changes are relatively recent (within the last 10 years, perhaps), but I'm not sure about that.  This certainly presents challenges to the school system and its resources.  And somehow these challenges, along with all the other challenges, need to be faced and met as much as possible.

Now here's where I wimp out: I don't know what the answer is.  Relevant factors make for a messy criss-cross of priorities and interests: older citizens on fixed incomes; younger, more affluent and perhaps more educated citizens starting families here and expecting more for their kids than maybe the older folks expected; the needs of non-native and/or non-native speaker children; a small town with not a whole lot of land left to develop or redevelop for new ratables; a struggling Main St. business community; etc.

Disclaimers:

1. The problems I see are based on my priorities, e.g., public education.  I certainly don't expect everyone else to agree with those priorities.  And if a majority of the town disagrees and has other priorities, so be it.
2. No, I do not have nor do I plan to have any children, so I do not and will not have children in the public school system.  I often hear people say that if you don't have children, you don't know what's it really like to blah, blah, blah.  Um, okay.  But I still get to have an opinion.  And don't forget!  I once was a child and I did attend public schools.  I can say that, if I had children, it would be a very tough decision wrt their education.  I love living in this town, but, yes, I'd have to say I want better than average for my kids' education.  I would probably send them to private school or engage them in some kind of supplemental programs to enrich their public school education.
3. I work at the library; I started in April.  Yes, I am biased in favor of having, improving, etc. libraries in general, but this is a long-ago formed bias.  I am not in favor of building a new library iot keep or better my job.  This is not a career.  I work part-time, making 9 big ones an hour.  This is to keep me in books, manicures, haircuts, etc. so I'm not completely sponging off of Kevin until I start grad school.  And it gets me out of the house and among books and book lovers for a few hours a week.
4. Update:  Adding this disclaimer to say that the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't relfect the opinions of anyone else associated with the library.

Comments

[Sherlock]

This has the makings of a mystery, and I think the Children's librarian is behind it! How do you explain, if you didn't have any internet access, how the librarian in charge of PC's got the email. It's obviously an inside job!

[Annie]

It is indeed a mystery. But I'm not so sure re: your theory about the Childrens' librarian. See, it was just the one PC in this one room that didn't have internet access. The other PCs, located elsewhere in the library, were okay. And I think the childrens' librarian checked her email from home before she came to the library. Now that you know this, do you have any other ideas re: this mystery?