Publication Date: Friday, January 13, 2006
ReaderWire
ReaderWire
(January 13, 2006)
'Customer' service
I became concerned when reading the letter from several library employees who state, "Working with the (library) director and her staff, the Library Advisory Commission is now developing recommendations for future library service" (Weekly, Jan. 4).
If the above letter is accurate, something is very wrong. Under the process, recommendations cannot be written until after an independent firm conducts a resident survey to gauge the degree of support for various library issues, including for branch libraries. This survey is critical to residents and their libraries, and recommendations must flow from the results.
Surely employees don't send a highly opinionated letter intended to influence residents before a survey unless their boss knows and approves of it in advance. Given the need for integrity in deciding the future of our libraries, we need to hear from our library director both as to the appropriateness and accuracy of the letter.
As to the survey, surely non-technical language will be used so that questions and the implications can be understood before a resident chooses a response. The survey data compiled by the firm administering the survey will then be interpreted by the library director and Library Advisory Commission. Only then may recommendations to the City Council be formulated -- by the director, commission, Library Foundation, Friends of the Library, etc.
The letter writers also state that funding of staff for five libraries is the reason services and facilities for "customers" is so limited. I think residents are now ready to invest in their libraries if presented with a plan they can support. The director should provide the leadership and we will be at her side with overwhelming support.
In the meantime, I suggest that the term "customer" be dropped by library staff in describing library users. Customer implies we do not "own" our libraries. Isn't that the whole point -- we do own our libraries, with the responsibility to adequately fund them?
Winter Dellenbach
Barron Park, Palo Alto
Stanford vitriol
We added a second floor to our house on Kingsley Avenue about 22 years ago. It was well done -- we discussed it with the neighbors and invited them over to see it in process so they could be assured no sightlines would infringe on backyard privacy, etc. It more than doubled the original 1,200 square feet (an overhang).
The result was a different configuration that nonetheless fit in very well and looked like it had been there as long as the original actually had -- and comfortably accommodated our soon-to-be family of four.
I liken the demands for trails through Stanford to, say, a demand from Palo Alto that I provide a bench in the middle of my front yard for dogwalkers to rest on during their rounds, or a demand that I provide a parcourse station -- as quid pro quo for permission to add the second floor.
I can't imagine that, but if I really had to do such I certainly would want it at the front of my yard, where the city has an easement anyway.
I just can't get over the vitriol continually displayed toward the most responsible major landowner in the area. I also just can't get over the demands toward an institution that provides such incredible recreational opportunities for the surrounding communities as it is.
Alan Mela
Blue Oak Lane, Los Altos
Armor unrest
A secret Pentagon study, hidden from the American public until recently, now reveals that a staggering 80 percent of marines who have been killed could have survived if equipped with proper body armor.
This armor has been available since 2003 but the Pentagon refused supplies. Many marines requested their loved ones to send the necessary body armor and may have survived certain death with the extra protection. The vests currently used leave some chest and back areas exposed.
The study covering the period of March 2003 through June 2005 revealed that bullets and shrapnel struck unprotected areas such as the shoulders, sides and torso. And 340 soldiers died from torso wounds alone.
It is likely that the tens of thousands of soldiers seriously wounded may have survived with more adequate protection. I urge readers to demand accountability from the Bush administration -- the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld and his band of armchair warriors. Please also voice your outrage to Congressman Murtha, who seems to one of the few Democrats who is not MIA.
Jagjit Singh
Louisa Court, Palo Alto
E-mail a friend a link to this story. | 
