The State of Libraries

In reference to the column by Rosanne Welch (“Libraries Sad Testimony to Middle Class’ Lack of Caring,” Feb. 4), I share her frustration with the declining quality of our libraries. But at the same time, shrinking funds require smarter spending, and I see just the opposite happening.

In recent months my local branch has replaced paper library cards with a plastic credit-card version, and replaced due-date stamping of books with a new system that gives you a loose, easy-to-lose receipt. I am told, with a straight face, that due-date book stamping was “too labor-intensive.”

Finally, the file-card index has been removed, replaced with a computer system that was able to tell me, in a matter of seconds, that there is not a single copy of any book by Thorne Smith in the entire Los Angeles library system! When money is so tight, libraries should be spending it on books, not on toys.

HENRY C. PARKE

Van Nuys