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List:       publib
Subject:    [PUBLIB] Corporate Underwriting (fwd)
From:       plib2 () webjunction ! org (PUBLIB)
Date:       2000-07-31 20:53:50
Message-ID: Pine.GSO.4.10.10007311753480.17631-100000 () webjunction ! org
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Sender: "Thomas J. Hennen Jr." <thennen@haplr-index.com>
Subject: Corporate Underwriting

Greetings,

Writing as topic 6 in PubLib on 29 Jul 2000, Mary Ann Meyers responded to my
query about corporate underwriting.  She noted that ToysR Us cut funding to
ALA because of Dr. Laura, adding that she would worry about getting too cozy
and comfortable with commercial concerns that might leave you in the lurch
if you choose professional ethics/the public interest over the corporation's
ethical concerns/commercial interests. She further notes that they call it
"Corporate funding for programming" on public radio, wondiering if it is
because public radio, like public television, had its funding sliced by
Congress by political interests that did not approve of the programs shown
and thought the "private sector" could do it better.  It seems, she laments
that everything is for sale in today's United States.  Really, I mean
really--it wasn't always that way.

On the point about being left in the lurch, by private business that does
not like what you do, well it is easy to cite scores of city councils,
library boards and even state legislatiures that use the power of the purse
strings to punish library behavior.  Both private and public can and do seek
to restrain the behavior of libraries and librarians - that is the real
world in which we live.  In fact Meyers notes this very fact when noting
that some in Congress sought to punish public radio for content by forcing
it to do fund raising.

To quote Macbeth, we are so steeped in blood, it is easier to go forward ere
we return.

Naming rights for libraries and rooms therein are as old as the American
public library. Our history is replete with corporate giving that some would
question.  How many fewer libraries would there be without Carnegie's
largesse?  Yet many in the Labor movement at the turn of the last century
considered him a mass murderer for his actions during the Homestead Strike
of 1892.  How many Gates computers in libraries are running Linux or
Netscape?  But few object to the Gates foundation money for libraries.

Ronald McDonald is becoming a mainstay at childrens programs nationwide.
Will our young users be better or worse off if we ban Ronald for fear that
Dr. Laura will discover Harry Potter and Arch a brow?

I only got two responses to my original request for information on policies,
experience and cautions at libraries that have corporate or private sponsors
or partners.  Are there more?

datcalmguy

Thomas J. Hennen Jr.
thennen@haplr-index.com
http://www.haplr-index.com
Voice: 262-886-1625
Fax: 262-886-5424
6014 Spring Street
Racine, WI   53406




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