▶ Your Answer :
Schools, public
libraries, public transits, and military are considered an important facility
for a country. However, when a country faces an economic crisis, it is better
for the government to reduce spending money on public libraries. This is mainly
because public libraries are the least beneficial among those facilities and
there is an alternative to replace functions of public libraries.
First of all,
the benefits of public libraries do not exceed their costs. This is
attributable to the fact that, only minor groups of people are using public
libraries. A recent statistical study conducted by Kim et al. revealed that
only 20% of people are using public libraries whereas 50% and 70% of people are
likely to use schools and public transits, respectively. Considering that it
costs nearly $100,000 to maintain a public library per year, it would be more
cost-effective to run more schools since a school only costs $50,000 per year for
its maintenance. This demonstrates that facilities other than public libraries
such as public transits and schools will be more worth to spend money on a
national basis.
Secondly, there
is an alternative which can function as a public library. This is due to the
fact that people can use secondhand bookstores instead. Used books are usually
sold at a very cheap price compared to a new one. Furthermore, unlike having a
due date to return a book or even getting stressed out to finish reading books
before a due date, people can read a book anytime they want if they buy one. In
fact, people can even resell books to a used bookstore after finish reading it. I
cannot say that this alternative, a second-hand bookstore, could completely replace
all the functions of a public library, but regarding that other facilities (schools,
public transits, and military) have no alternatives at all, it will be
appropriate for the government to reduce spending on public libraries.
In summary, considering
that the least number of people are using public libraries than other
facilities and the existence of suitable alternatives for the libraries, it
would be the best solution to reduce financial supports on public libraries in an
economic crisis. |