Fireworks, Libraries, and the Ohio State Budget July 4, 2009
Posted by Jason W Ellis in News.Tags: budget, fireworks, libraries, ohio, responsible
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Apparently public libraries are in trouble in the state of Ohio due to 1) a decline in the state’s general revenue fund, and 2) Governor Ted Strickland’s proposed 30% cut to statewide library funding.
According to the responses from this Yahoo! Answers question, fireworks displays on the scale of what I’ve been hearing about in the small towns surrounding Kent would run into tens of thousands of dollars in addition to costs for insurance, police, music, etc. I don’t know how many fireworks displays there were in Ohio this July 3rd and 4th, but there were 37 in the Northeast corner of the state according to this news site.
I realize that this is not a maximized solution, but I believe that forgoing fireworks during a financial crisis so that those funds can be routed to local libraries, which provide year-round services to the public, would be a far better use of money than an ersatz orgasmic light spectacle.
Read more about the Ohio library dilemma on the Ohio Library Council website here.
Here here! I do have to say that I certainly had these sort of thoughts on my mind this 4th of July. Private spending (pollution, etc.) has its own set of problems when it comes to fireworks displays, but public spending is a bit disturbing.
Yes. I’ve thought this many a time. Thought about writing a letter to the editor, but every time someone questions these sorts of traditions, people fire back. But to save money, cut down on pollution, eliminate the noise, and stop glorifying war, I think it’s a good idea.