Idaho Commission for Libraries

The 17th Annual Idaho Public Policy Survey, conducted by Boise State University and released in January 2006, included the question “Overall, how important are libraries in our state?” The responses (n=534, with a +/- error of 4%) showed 77.2% choosing “very important” and 20.5% choosing “somewhat important”. Only 0.2% choose “not important at all”.

Fast forward to February 7th — three library bond elections failed (Boise, Lewiston, & Twin Falls). I read that there was low voter turn-out, too many people dislike the property tax, and we don’t need libraries because we have the Internet.

The following stories form yet another way to view the present and future.

This is the text of the Commencement address at Stanford University by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

Professional librarians are taught how to acquire, organize and disseminate information to meet the needs of their patrons. Librarians are also exposed to core values of the profession. One of the core values is the concept of the public good. Over 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson presented his ideas about social compacts—governments are instituted among people and derive their powers from the consent of the governed. The people create these compacts and governments to obtain a collective, greater good and security of their natural rights. Therefore, the public good is that which serves the collective population overall in addition to enhancing the life of the individual in that society. Fundamental to the success of Jeffersonian democracy are the assumptions that citizens can read, freely access information, and gather with their neighbors to discuss issues in order to make decisions about their government. Librarians assert that a library serves the public good through acting to help citizens become more informed members of the electorate and more capable of self-governance in a democracy.