A wise man once observed that “no good deed goes unpunished.” A recent report in this
newspaper (“Rural Maine libraries fear loss of services if new standards are approved,” Nov. 16)
suggests that a bureaucratic echelon of the Maine State Library is determined to
prove him right.

Libraries, one might think, are there so people can get to books (and, these days, book-
equivalents, including online resources). And the volunteer directors and staff of many small-
town Maine libraries have been making that possible for years, with little help from higher up.
Now, however, MSL proposes to make the lives of these unsung heroes more difficult than
they already are, requiring certain opening hours and certain remuneration of workers.

There’s an old story about a university librarian, scurrying across the quad, greeted by a
colleague — “How’s things at the library?” Response: “Excellent. Everything is on the shelves
except Minimus’ commentary on Minor, and I’m off to get that now.”

This seems to be the MSL bosses’ attitude. But librarians are mostly not like that. In fact,
they work very hard for little or, as in the case of Maine’s dedicated volunteer librarians, no pay, to get books into people’s hands.

Why MSL wants to pull their threadbare rug from under them is difficult to understand. But
I hope that sufficient public scorn and derision deluges down upon MSL management heads that — having already postponed a vote on it — they’re shamed into scrapping this bonehead proposal.

Michael J. Smith
Portland