I’m sorry your co-workers lost their jobs. But there’s no way I thought I could make you feel guilty about anything, mostly because I don’t know you or your work place’s lay-off situation. I don’t know if you intended to come off as defensive, but it certainly reads that way.

I knew almost all the people at Emory library that lost their jobs. I’m sure you knew many of the 12,000 at your company. But I never implied that non-profits were “better” or these people were more worthwhile than those that work in the private sector. You’re bringing that to the table, not me.

I had never thought of business/government in an offense/defense manner prior to yesterday evening, but it sure is an interesting way of thinking about playing the game of governance. For instance…Defense is the last thing you can lose before falling into chaos, so it makes sense that forms of government proceed and underlie capitalistic ventures. Also, government CAN serve as your offense, but it’s a bureaucratic system founded on caution, so it often falters on the frontlines. And now I’m about to start spouting the theories of Stephan Ambrose, so I’m going to stop.

To make sure I am using the word medium, or media, correctly, I looked up the many definitions. The first one I found is “a means or instrumentality for storing or communicating information,” which to me broadly covers libraries. And when I talk about viability, it’s not necessarily a business-based definition. It is a more general idea that it is critically important that we keep libraries at the forefront of people’s mindset.

On another note, I seem to have inadvertantly positioned myself as a “business or bust” advocate. I just want to say that I recognize the need for government, taxation and regulation by a “by the people, for the people” leadership. I also recognize DM’s offense and defense will never exist fully peaceably. But I sometimes feel the need to defend commerce’s important role from some of the more zealous people on the fringe (that comment is not directed at ANYONE in this current discussion; each of you has put forth very thoughtful arguments).

Back to libraries: My revised stance is we need them like we need roads; our civilization will be weakened without them. But libraries need to use good business practices to showcase and sell their work to the uneducated morons above them, I mean business officers (aka government bureaucrats and elected officials), who don’t already see their value. Since libraries are bustling with customers in this economy, I’m not sure they have to market themselves much better to their stakeholders (aka patrons). And if critical library staff and services are cut instead of the some of the consultants I’ve seen hired to provide generic, superficial, “strategic” advice to government at great cost, it’s a mortal sin.