OUR TURN

Library funding disparities beg for redress

By Joan Retsinas and Maureen Romans, League of Women Voters

In the United States we are in the midst of a renewed discussion of long-standing inequities. Communities with Americans of color fare far worse on a range of measures than a just society should tolerate. Schools, jobs, health care — the disparities persist.

So, too, with public libraries.

Consider the funding disparities. Per capita, the state of Rhode Island gives largely white suburban libraries as much as five times more than urban libraries. 

For more information on the League study, see the Library Funding page in Issues