Children are not welcome at the Meredith Public Library?

[jeffk]

Also being the devil's advocate , I believe it is not residency, since the policy clearly states it is NOT required, but more being a member of the household.

As a 50 year old visiting your mother in the town you are clearly NOT a member of the household, merely a visitor.

On the other hand, the 18 year old is still basically a member of her parents household. Based on your reasoning, a 14 year old up for the summer at her parents house would not be entitled to a free card. Neither would a resident's child since SHE is not the actual taxpayer.

What urgent principle is the library protecting here? When voting we want to make sure every entitled person can vote, but only once. Some certification is reasonable. But the library should be in the business of dispensing knowledge and culture. What difference does it make if a few household members of taxpayers take out materials?

So if you were living with your mother, even at 50, you WOULD be a member of her household and it would be reasonable to issue you a library card. What better goal is served by refusing you one?

My critique of the librarian, or actually of the apparent library policy, is that I would think librarians would want to get books into as many hands as they possibly could. This interpretation of the policy seems to undermine that idea.

[djwoodward]

Originally Posted by jeffk

Also being the devil's advocate , I believe it is not residency, since the policy clearly states it is NOT required, but more being a member of the household. .

Where does it mention being a member of a household?


[QUOTE=jeffk;207075]As a 50 year old visiting your mother in the town you are clearly NOT a member of the household, merely a visitor
The line has to be drawn somwhere. If a 50 year old or an 18 year old spends the summer in Meredith but claims residency elsewhere neither of them are residents or taxpayers

Originally Posted by jeffk

Based on your reasoning, a 14 year old up for the summer at her parents house would not be entitled to a free card.

No, the 14 year old is not an adult, the 18 year old is.

Originally Posted by jeffk

Neither would a resident's child since SHE is not the actual taxpayer.

No, they are residents also.

Originally Posted by jeffk

What urgent principle is the library protecting here?.

I suspect that they are trying to protect their collection. A book is more likely to dissapear to a non-resident with no official ties to Meredith.

Originally Posted by jeffk

So if you were living with your mother, even at 50, you WOULD be a member of her household and it would be reasonable to issue you a library card.?

If I were living with my hypothetical mother then I would be a resident. It's seems residency is the key not household. As an adult my mother should not be responsible for any potential misuse of the library's collection

Originally Posted by jeffk

My critique of the librarian, or actually of the apparent library policy, is that I would think librarians would want to get books into as many hands as they possibly could. This interpretation of the policy seems to undermine that idea.

They're also ar stewards of the library's collection. They need to get the books into responsible hands and to that end, they have to establish some reasonable policies. Maybe this one still needs some work but I suspect the motive is not to limit people's accesss.

[RailroadJoe]

Time to stop beating a dead horse. More to life than this.

[SIKSUKR]

Ok,after 8 rounds I declare djwoodward the winner by unanimous decision.