More on Maplewood Library Closings
January 3rd, 2007Lots of interesting quotes from this article from the Star Ledger.
“Patricia Tumulty, the longtime director of the New Jersey Library Association, said she’s never heard of a library going to this extreme.
“It just cries out for a community dialogue … on latchkey children,” she said of Maplewood’s plight.”
…
“Karen Pettis, the library board’s vice president: “They need to be able to blow off steam, to talk to their friends,” she said. “Unfortunately, the library is not a place where they can do that on a regular basis.”
…
“Gavin Black, another eighth grader, didn’t like the idea, either. “At least give them some place to talk,” he said. “A lot of kids don’t even have computers.”
Again, I don’t pretend to know what goes on in this or any other public library across the country (I’m a weekly visitor to my local library (sometimes with Hallie, other times alone and I rarely see what can be described as misbehavior). It’s not my place to judge. I’m not there.
While it’s clear that this is a horrible situation for everyone involved, I can’t help to think that, unless you have seen the actions of the teens firsthand, it’s going to be very hard to decry the decision of the trustees. As two commenters from my initial post mentioned, until someone pulls a gun or wields a knife on you, it’s going to be tough to judge the actions as deplorable.