Government spending to much money on libraries

Public spending towards library facilities can be extremely beneficial in a multitude of ways. The targeted end goal of a library is to inspire young readers, and to help build character, and develop intellectual skills. Libraries are then beneficial in the long term of a person's life as this can help them improve in writing skills, technical reading skills, and can also help determine a person's perspective on society both as an individual and as a whole. As stated in the articles, libraries can be the foundation to the start of one's career path and inspire them to challenge themselves to overcome obstacles.

In the library opposition article, it states the potential issues of what a library would cost. It can also be understandable that putting an huge price tag on a library could have its affects. But in that case, the library doesn't need to be extra fancy, of course the Calgary one has become a tourist attraction but a library is also meant to be a place of learning, inspiration and calm place to get together among peers.

In terms of Sandel, he would look at the telos of a library. What is the purpose of the library? In my opinion, a library is meant to provide a sense of both learning and enjoyment, the ability to bring people and their peers together and to inspire each other and others, and to enrich lives by developing crucial skills. Therefore, I believe that public spending towards a library can be a beneficial facility in all communities.

I think some public spending should be put into libraries. Before reading the articles, I could see how spending $67 million on a library seemed a little crazy. I thought about how you can get most books online now, and if not you can still always buy it from a book store, or order it online. After reading the articles, however, I think spending that amount of money on a library has many benefits, and they should move forward with it. I hadn't thought about the children and families who can't afford to buy books to read, or can't afford a computer or a smart phone to read books on. I also hadn't thought about how libraries offer a welcoming space for all members of the community. Libraries can be an escape for those feeling lost, and I think that's too important to deny the community of. Although most books can now be found online, I think we should keep libraries in our communities to reinforce the fact that not everything is better online. Often times holding a physical copy of a book in your hands is a much better experience than reading it through a screen.

I think that Sandel would put this situation into multiple different perspectives and compare them. For example, the utilitarian perspective. The utilitarian would see what the majority of the community wanted, what would create the most pleasure and the least pain. If the majority was in favour of the library and would benefit more than those who did not want it would suffer, the utilitarian would be in favour of building the library. He might also look at it through the libertarian point of view. The libertarian might say that they shouldn't be paying for something they don't want, and the state shouldn't be forcing them to fund a library. Rawls might put it into the perspective of whether or not a library would help the least well off, which I believe it would. Aristotle would think about the true telos of a library and the honour that is apart of a physical library compared to an online library.

I think the government should spend less money on libraries because the majority of people are spending their time on the internet. The purpose of libraries is to provide people the physical copy of a book but they can move it online. This way the government and the people would not use as much paper to make the books. This would be easy for people to be able to access the resources from their home since some people have to commute a long way to get to the library. By moving more resources online, the government would not have to pay for electricity, water, heat, and other building maintenance fees, chares, shelves, tables. However, it is still important to have libraries, because it gives people job opportunities, and some people might not have the ability to have access to the internet. This also supports the idea of community. The library is a good place for children to learn and grow with their peers. The library also hosts large events to bring the community together. The government should spend less money on libraries but they should not reduce the amount of resources for children. Since having physical books serve as a good learning resource for children, especially since they don’t have access to the internet. Sandel would say that the library is a good place for communities to form because people who go to the library go for a purpose, to gain more knowledge. They already share this similarity so it is easier for them to connect with one another.