Our local Fox news affiliate ran an inflammatory and libelous assault on Chicago Public Library’s on June 28th with a piece titled “Are libraries necessary, or a waste of tax money?” The piece was poorly done. The reporter showed a non-circulating periodical stacks area to “show the library is not used” among other slanderous untruths. The Commissioner, Mary Dempsey, respond with a firm but elegant response. In this beautiful crafted letter, Commissioner Dempsey refutes the reporters claim line by line.
The amazing thing about this story is that the majority of comments on the story or the Commissioner’s response seem to indicate STRONG PUBLIC support for the library. I hope we librarians capitalize on the groundswell of support we are getting from the public’s outcry over stories like this and slashes to our budget.
The Information Activist Librarian 