DEAR EDITOR:
Mr. James Fennell, before you make uninformed statements about
your local library, as you did in the article
”
Library should drop DVDs and buy some more books
”
(June 2), please find out the facts.
DEAR EDITOR:
Mr. James Fennell, before you make uninformed statements about your local library, as you did in the article “Library should drop DVDs and buy some more books” (June 2), please find out the facts.
You say you’ve been to your local library recently. Have you read the library’s material selection policies? Have you asked what ethnic groups are represented in your library’s collections? Do you know how and why materials are selected?
Why do you assume that all of the library’s DVD are found at Gilroy’s commercial stores and therefore need not be at the library? Why are you concerned that entertainment DVDs are in the Gilroy library?
Has it ever occurred to you that some people cannot afford DVDs? (An acquaintance of mine is learning English by checking out library DVDs in English and using his video recorder’s ability to list English words in Spanish. I myself get current DVDs of new operas which are never found in the commercial stores, etc.)
There are many ways of learning, especially in the 21st century, which do not depend solely on books. And even “entertainment DVDs” should be part of a modern library’s collection, as well as many wonderful books.
Jan O’Hanrahan, Gilroy
Submitted Monday, June 28
