Introduction
A large number of taxpayers, not only in South Carolina but also in other parts of the world have the right to be made aware of the benefits they would obtain through entrusting their governments with huge amounts of money paid as tax. The government of South Carolina has been carrying out awareness campaigns to let people know that millions of dollars collected as tax go into proper use.
Evidently, every sector concerned with the welfare of the people gets a significant proportion of money for developmental purposes. The education sector is one of the sectors that have greatly benefited from government funding. The residents of South Carolina are not confident that their taxes go into good use. This is despite the government clarifying that it is fully accountable for every single cent collected as tax goes put into proper use.
Strategic Planning for Community Building
Numerous studies have been carried out to determine whether tax collected from the people is used for national development or not. A study carried out by Barron et al (2005), entitled “The economic impact of public libraries on South Carolina” for instance, was aimed at determining whether public libraries present any tangible benefits to South Carolinians.
This study was also aimed at determining the extent to which these people feel that public libraries contribute to their general economic wellbeing. Whereas some people argue that establishment of public libraries is an inappropriate use of public funds, it is important to note that a large number of people have greatly benefited from these national facilities.
The study by Barron et al (2005) utilized data obtained from different people with reference to the general use of public libraries, the use of libraries for business purposes, the use of public libraries for personal investments, in addition to their use for job seeking in order to come up with an unbiased conclusion. It was argued that a large number of those who made use of public libraries had positive perceptions towards these facilities.
Many people agree that the benefits public libraries present to members of their families cannot be compared to any other social service. This study was necessitated by claims by the American Library Association that those working in public libraries were not providing users with quality services.
The principal aim of this study was bringing to light the importance of all relevant parties demonstrating continued interest and also commitment to the public libraries. This issue is of national interest since it offers students and the public at large an opportunity to take part in meaningful scholarship that besides being of personal interest enables students to participate in public services (Hopper, 2012).
Despite the positive perceptions of many towards libraries, some people still argue that these facilities are only meant to benefit a few and, therefore, cannot be categorized as economically viable strategies. It is, however, important to note that a good measure of value for any service is obtained only by those who make use of it.
Some of the benefits associated with public libraries, as outlined by Barron et al (2005), include: Improvement of the quality of life, attraction of new businesses to the community, nurturing love for reading among the people, assisting people to manage personal finances, increasing local property value, and attracting patronage to local investments. This is in addition to enhancing personal fulfillment.
These facilities have also been shown to act as a source of employment. They are also believed to introduce users to novel technologies and assist them with life-long learning among others. Respondents in the study by Barron et al (2005) made it clear that monetary value cannot be placed on life-long learning, and information obtained from various sources in the library play a significant role of promoting a healthy, as well as a vibrant community.
Despite some people arguing that libraries are not economically viable, it should be noted that the establishment of these facilities falls under some of the government strategies directed towards benefiting the general community. The government aims at reducing knowledge gap that exists between the people through the establishment of public libraries.
Public libraries act as channel through which the rift between elites and the local people can be bridged so as to fulfill the government’s principal aim of enhancing the local people’s intellectual capacity (Stueart & Moran, 2007). It should be noted that the local people face a great deal of challenges, some of which include: Poverty, crime, ethnic crisis, and educational challenges. These challenges call for solid solutions to manage them.
These challenges are believed to dominate the local problem solving plans. A number of social and economic factors have been shown to hamper the efforts to generate practical solutions to these problems (Nelson, 2009).
The establishment of a public library has been recognized by many, including academicians, as a practical way through which most of these challenges can be counteracted. The people become empowered through increasing their intellectual capacity, and as a result, they are able to generate solid solutions to most of their problems (Gardner et al. 2000).
Establishment of a public library acts as an approach which, if combined with others, can offer a strong building block when putting up a novel model of community democracy. It has been revealed that a substantial number of businesspeople who have access to information in public libraries agree to having recorded huge successes in their ventures (McClure & Jaeger, 2009).
Construction of public libraries in many countries has been recognized as one of the major government ventures, which translates to proper utilization of taxes. These facilities are believed to have the potential to enhance economic growth of individuals and also the nation. Investors make clear that information on almost 90% of all investments made in a certain region is obtained from public libraries (Barron et al 2005).
It is supposed that information from public libraries enable people to come up with economically viable decisions. In addition, it should be noted that a large number of people do not have the financial capacity to purchase some of the most important books in the market. Most of these books are availed at an affordable charge in the libraries.
It is approximated that users spend over $100 million to purchase intellectual materials. Research has revealed that this cost can be reduced to about 26$ million by establishing a public library. Therefore, public libraries provide people with an affordable means through which they can acquire relevant information (Barron et al 2005).
Even though a large amount of money is used to establish and fully equip a public library, financial resources that can be earned as a service charge from these facilities exceed the cost of establishment by far. Public libraries have been shown to have the capacity to generate over $5 million dollars per year as service charges.
It is no doubt that the benefits generated from public libraries can be enjoyed by generations to come. Regardless of such a fact, some people are still opposed to the establishment of a public library, arguing that such an initiative does not benefit all groups of people compared to other social and academic activities (Nelson, Altman & Mayo, 2000).
The initiative to establish a public library is a well thought out strategy that calls for the participation of a large number of stakeholders. It is a strategy that, in addition to incorporating feedback from diverse segments of the community, has quantifiable objectives and is realistic for the entire nation (Hawkins et al. 2001).
Establishment of a public library is an extensive process that calls for efforts from different players. Peer reviewers, for instance, in addition to working in collaboration with the directors as well as the people, carry out assessments of the plan and the process by looking at any relevant data.
Reviewers, on the other hand, request for more information concerning various sections of the plan to determine whether it meets the stipulated guidelines. Assessments are also carried out to determine whether the principal objectives of the plan stretch library services over the future.
Therefore, arguments by some sections of society that transforming a community building into a public library are misguided and do not have a solid base. Public libraries, on the contrary, have been shown to enhance the schooling efforts of a large number of people. Large numbers of retirees and those who study at home rely on public libraries for information (Marco, 2011).
Strategic planning for a community building should not be left to a group of people, but rather it should be taken as a responsibility of all pertinent parties. The team involved should come up with a logical, as well as relevant plan for the building. The board should ensure that the interest of stakeholders is represented and the course for the library is steered to successful completion (Webber & Peters, 2010).
Albeit establishment of a public library being an effective strategy through which social and economic challenges that emanate from misguided decisions can be solved, it is not a bullet solution to all community problems. Firstly, it requires allocation of a large amount of money. It is argued that it may take many years before the community starts reaping the benefits associated with a public library (Matthews, 2005).
Some people also argue that other means can be made use of to counteract environmental challenges, dysfunctional politics and efficiently address local maladies in place of public libraries. These people point out that there is need for all sectors of the community to work in harmony towards a common goal.
It has also been argued that considering public libraries have a budget to adhere to, their selection on resources becomes limited. There are higher chances of public libraries becoming victims of censorship. Some resources in the library may be banned if they contain sections with a higher possibility of creating controversy compared to other materials (Nelson, 2008). Since the tax is the main source of support for these facilities, they are left with no choice but to yield to these controversies.
It can, however, be concluded that that strategy to transform a public building into a public library is an economically viable approach. Public libraries have the potential to enhance the intellectual capacity of the people, thereby increasing their ability to make rational economic decisions.
References
Barron, D. R. et al. (2005). The economic impact of public libraries on South Carolina. Web.
Gardner, J. W. et al. (2000). The community commissioning and strategic planning handbook, New York, NY: National Civic League Press.
Hawkins, M. et al. (2001). Value and use of public libraries. Public Library Journal, 16(2), 35-37.
Hopper, L. (2012). Sustainable public libraries. Web.
Marco, G. A. (2011). The American public library handbook. Santa Barbara: California, ABC-CLIO.
Matthews, J. R. (2005). Strategic planning and management for library managers. Mahwah, NJ: Libraries Unlimited.
McClure, C. R. & Jaeger, P. T. (2009). Public libraries and internet service roles: Measuring and maximizing internet services. New York, NY: ALA Editions.
Nelson, S. (2008). Strategic planning for results. Chicago: American Library Association, 2008. For the Public Library Association.
Nelson, S. (2009). Implementing for results: Your strategic plan in action. New York, NY: ALA Editions.
Nelson, S. S., Altman, E. & Mayo, D. (2000). Managing for results: Effective resource allocation for public libraries. New York, NY: ALA Editions.
Stueart, R. D. & Moran B. B. (2007). Library and information center management. Mahwah, NJ: Libraries Unlimited.
Webber, D. & Peters, A. (2010). Integrated library systems: Planning, selecting, and implementing. Santa Barbara: California, ABC-CLIO.