The Fayetteville Public Library is an awesome local institution. It makes me proud. I go there often and will be there more frequently now that I can get free Westlaw service. Our library even gets touted in the new video by the Fayetteville Economic Development Council's promotional film produced by FEDC member Jeff Koenig's son David to attract new businesses.
There is no doubt that the FPL needs more funding to expand its collections and to continue and improve services. However, I'm not so sure that their latest scheme is a good one. From the library website, under "Support FPL," there is a new link called MyLibraryBookstore. You can purchase books, music, and videos online, and the library gets some unspecified commission on the sales, all going to the noble cause of collection development.
There are two reasons I am uneasy with this new wrinkle. The first is that I deeply appreciate the independent bookstore, Nightbird Books, in the Mill District. It somehow manages to survive in the face of competition from the big box stores and online sales by Amazon. It is a local community resource that we should patronize and support. Same goes for the wonderful used book emporium, Dickson Street Bookshop. The second reason is that the FPL online provider does not charge state and local sales tax on sales in Arkansas, something even the big box retailers collect and return to support local government.
Perhaps people will purchase their books online anyway, instead of supporting our local merchants. Nevertheless, I am sure that our outstanding public library board can find a better source of additional funding that does not harm local independent booksellers and undermine tax revenues for important local government programs--such as the Fayetteville Public Library.
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