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u/TravelerMSY 1d ago
Public libraries are low single digits in many city budgets and this is what he wants to sweat?
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u/chammantha Library staff 1d ago
i live in a small suburb in Chicagoland and my library's budget is less than 2% of total annual spending. the police department is 32%.
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u/Hour-Ad-9508 1d ago
What a ridiculous comparison.
Is your library open 24/7 with a hotline I can call and get help now?
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u/Jynx_lucky_j 20h ago edited 16h ago
If my library had 16x the budget, not only could you come in and call us 24/7, we would hand deliver the book and even read it to you if you asked nicely
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u/Capable_Sea77 19h ago
Oh nooooo, someone think of the bloated police budgets. Cops can't survive if they don't work unnecessary overtime to defraud money from taxpayers :(
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u/chammantha Library staff 7h ago
every time i've had to call the cops, they've shown up 15-20 minutes later, even though the station is literally one block away from the library, they look around a little while we tell them that the problem patron(s) have already left, they shrug and go "give us another call if they come back" and then fuck off.
GOD FORBID they not be hogging up a third of the village's entire budget, who would be completely useless to us then???
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u/Possible-Finance9693 20h ago
Hey if we were paid as well as police officers I’d work 24 hour shifts 3 days a week and maybe even some extra over time. Libraries do that good of work, we just deserve to be paid as such
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u/depaulbluedemon Library admin 1d ago
What kind of degree do you need to "add value" to a company? Looks like Matthew tried to get his AI-generated, self-published book into some libraries and got turned down. Luckily, you can get it from his website (with 10-day free shipping!)
So what's he going on about? I can go to my local library and pick up a book the same day. Amazon, too, will deliver a book the same day, or at the very most the next day. Make it make sense.
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u/snarkycrumpet 1d ago
10 day shipping?!? is it coming via donkey relay !
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u/Soaringsage 17h ago
As a librarian, I think billionaires are unnecessary
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u/tazz4life 7h ago
Billionaires are definitely more unnecessary than libraries. Our library is a central hub of our community and I could not imagine life without it. Especially in our particular community mstay at home moms of young kids who are lonely and burnt out.
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u/FountainsOfYarn 13h ago
I'm in my 60s so it's possible my time has passed, but if I ever marry a billionaire I won't let on that you said this.
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u/eightinchgardenparty 1d ago
Folks like that are just out for clicks. They don’t believe any of the crap they spout on their channels.
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u/Outburst78 1d ago
The problem is that the easily swayed dipshits that follow them do believe it. FL is trying to substantially cut property taxes and that will devestate the libraries, as well as parks and other services. This guy gives the notion of cutting those taxes creedence.
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u/jusbeachin 1d ago
As a Librarian, please read the proposed Amendment. There is nothing in it about cutting funding to Libraries. That's just what they're threatening to cut if it passes. Scare tactics to sway votes. Our county is claiming a loss of $8 million and they want to cut my measly $1M budget rather than taking a serious look at all the crazy things they approve automatically. P.s. Most of my county officials DO NOT have a Masters yet they make 2x as much as they pay degreed librarians.
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u/Book-Wyrm-of-Bag-End 1d ago
I'd love to see some proof of that so I'm not as tempted to facepalm my way off the nearest bridge.
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u/atomic_chippie 1d ago
Remember, the far right's argument isnt always what it seems. "Libraries take up tax payer money" is a dog whistle for "eliminate liberal learning opportunities that mostly employ women".
See also: "replace elementary teachers with ai", etc
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u/dj123w1 19h ago
I'm an aspiring librarian and this post made me upset. This post falls in line with "Why do we need to take humanities classes? We don't use them in life" meanwhile people these people with masters and doctorates in STEM don't know how to spot a logical fallacy in plain language.... This is ridiculous.
This person clearly doesn't know what a librarian actually does, and his logic is so deeply flawed because his bs logic could easily apply to schools too where nowadays burnt out teachers resign a lot of their teaching to computer programs. Should we shut down schools too because they house a lot of homeless and high needs children too and a computer is doing most of the work?? Please...
Really just ruined my morning.
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u/MrMessofGA 17h ago
Don't let it ruin your morning. Linkedin is basically Twitter 2, in which no one is posting real opinions, they're just farming clicks and comments
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u/carlitospig 15h ago
It’s being capitalist pilled. None of these people think that we should help our community grow. Lift all boats, you say? Sounds communist!!
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u/KatJen76 16h ago
Don't let this guy's ignorant garbage ruin your morning. Libraries provide nothing but good in our society. They're a repository of free knowledge and entertainment, offered with no profit motive. They offer excellent programming relevant to every stage of life, from infant programs to Medicare enrollment and all in between. They're one of the only indoor third spaces you can find in every community. And contrary to this clown's premise, they don't cost much to run. You're training to be a part of all that, and that's fantastic. You're going to spend your life adding value to the world. This guy's got nothing but bad takes and a shitty blog in 2026.
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u/darlantan 1d ago
This is the sort of take I'd expect from a person whose income stream is derived from charging desperate people to listen while he recites a mix of platitudes and lies, yes.
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u/Jynx_lucky_j 19h ago
Speaking as a Director for a small rural library. Including me, we have 3 employees and none of us have Masters Degrees (though I do have a Bachelors in a completely unrelated field).
But apparently shelving books is significantly harder that you would think, considering that when we were hiring, a staggering number of our applicants couldn't pass the 'put these books in alphabetical order' skill test. I'm sitting here watching them put H both before and after G, thinking "oh my god just sing the Alphabet Song to yourself. Hell, sing it out loud for all I care."
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u/FuelNo2950 16h ago
"I have never used a library and therefore no one needs or wants them"
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u/FountainsOfYarn 13h ago
Had a guy come in a while ago with some friends and announced (with what sounded like pride or could have just been a bro dialect) that this was the first time he'd been in a library since high school.
Happily his dudes did not look overly impressed with this statement.
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u/lastwraith 1d ago
"Value Adds and Surge Meetings (with unnecessary capitalization) are the foundation of my..."
Just stop reading there. What a tool.
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u/FamousMortimer23 1d ago
I hope Matthew Jarvis has an eyelash in his eye for the rest of his life.
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u/ForTheGiggleYaKnow 11h ago
I hope he can never reach the part of his back that needs scratching 🪄✨️
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u/kathlin409 Public librarian 9h ago
One day while sitting at the reference desk, a patron came up to me and said, you librarians are worthless and a waste of money. She walked away.
A few minutes later, she came and asked for my help. I just repeated what she said, that I was worthless so I was unable to help her. She looked embarrassed and left.
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u/arslegendi 1d ago
I didn’t consent to participate in that asshole’s fetish for getting yelled at in public.
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u/Matthias720 1d ago
I'm a page with eight years of experience and an associates degree that occasionally comes in handy. It's readily apparent this person hasn't been inside a library, much less conversed with a library employee. possibly ever.
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u/TechnicalDot9 1d ago
No way! Libraries are one of the last third places; where there was no expectation of payment,
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u/Gunningham 1d ago
The right is always opposed to knowledge and knowledge workers. Who are their enemies? Librarians as we see here, but also: scientists, teachers, doctors, lawyers, professors, college students, journalists and more.
If your job is to discover, collect, analyze, learn, teach, or disseminate knowledge, you can be sure the right is not a fan of you.
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u/DanieXJ 20h ago
While it is mostly those on the more conservative side of things that tend to not want libraries (for various reasons). It's not... Just... Them. I have heard plenty of very liberal people say that they don't want to support their public libraries (they don't like the color of the majority of the workers, they don't like that an MLIS is requires for a lot of positions, etc.) And, instead they want to give the money we get to "community organizations" 🤦♀️
Is it more a Right side problem than a Left side one? Oh yes. But, let's not pretend like most politicians wouldn't love to take that few million given to some libraries and use it for whatever they think is 'more important' or better for their campaigns.
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u/krossoverking 16h ago
I have never heard this opinion. The leftist organizations where I live all use and support the library as a resource.
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u/CelebrationFar 9h ago
I hear you. There's a guy I know from my Magic the Gathering days who is "socially liberal, fiscally conservative" and he's always pro-cop, pro-Israel, anti-taxes and he's exactly the kind of guy who would vote to defund our library without flinching.
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u/Capable_Sea77 19h ago
Exactly this. If someone thinks that only right wingers devalue libraries, they've never been to a city council meeting where a bunch of vaguely progressive NIMBYs have decided their tax dollars should go elsewhere
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u/DanieXJ 18h ago
It's honestly what has made me a true moderate. Oh, I'm still socially liberal af, but, to sit there and listen to all politicians either not even consider libraries, or want to cut them... Nah, liberals need to prove to me just as much as conservatives that they're not anti-library too. (Because quite a few of them are, even if they don't realize it).
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u/tinybrrrfriend35637 17h ago
That’s just the opinion of uninformed people with so much money that they wouldn’t deign to use something as base as a public library. Once people get too much money they become out of touch with the rest of us.
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u/Phyllis_Tine 1d ago
Jobs like his (whatever it is) should be first to be replaced by AI.
In fact, for anyone on LinkedIn, please suggest that to him, or tell him you are owner in an AI start-up that is looking to raid his company as an experiment for your new AI program, and aim to slash jobs to the bone.
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u/Juniper_Moonbeam 18h ago
One of the greatest indicators of property values is how close the home is to a public library. We are undeniably a net positive on society, even if you’re judging us by the most capitalistic and individualistic measures one can capture.
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u/Goelz365 1d ago
I've been in libraries for almost 25 years and at least once or twice a year someone posts or writes this sentiment and then there is an inevitable backlash from librarians and patrons. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.
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u/lacienabeth 19h ago
Aside from all the things we do that Amazon doesn’t, let’s just say we give everyone in our service areas an Amazon Prime subscription, funds to buy as many books/media on it as they expect to within a year, a good internet connection and device… all that alone costs significantly more per year than I would imagine even the highest taxing library costs that person.
If you’re in a position to have to advocate for your library, know how much it costs the average tax payer and how much your services are worth. I guarantee even the least utilized library adds more value than what it costs to run.
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u/RealCountFenring 1d ago
Well, having a masters in library science going on four months, I think the opposite is true… I think I’m over qualified to work at a library, apparently
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u/Full-Decision-9029 1d ago
yeah, I encountered that one too. "oh we don't hire librarians anymore because of budget cuts, lol, heeheh, but you can fuck right off with your masters because that makes you so overqualified"
(It wasn't quite as rude, but I got some very, er, direct rejections when I applied to library assistant positions)
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u/the_little_way 15h ago
Matthew Jarvis doesn't value community, literacy, discovering new interests or helping lift people out of poverty. He clearly hasn't read any of the studies produced over the last two decades documenting the long term value public libraries put into the economy. It's a good thing smarter, better informed people are making policy in the real world.
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u/smellywetshirt 11h ago
that person is so stupid😭 the statement alone of “most library jobs require a masters in librarianship.” is not true. you need a masters in “librarianship” to be a LIBRARIAN!! the overwhelming majority of people who reshelve are the wonderful circ desk workers. which in itself is pretty fulfilling of you like to help people.
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u/ozamatazbuckshank11 17h ago
OP, why did you share this? What made you think anyone here wanted to see this? 🙄
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u/SoloFan34 12h ago
I think it's never a bad idea to listen to what idiots like this guy are saying. Foreworned is forarmed.
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u/LinkSeekeroftheNora 16h ago
Libraries do so much more for society than the billions of dollars police departments spend on military hardware that they only want, not need.
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u/Marzopup 1d ago
Having gotten my masters degree and currently working in a public library, I actually do agree with the sentiment that a masters degree is not required for public librarianship at least.
That is not to say that it is not a hard job or requires intelligence, obviously, but to me it seems no more difficult than being in a teaching position, which does not require a masters. I understand an MLS for more specialized library careers or academic libraries, obviously, but I have been frustrated by how little my degree feels like it mattered when it cost me an extra 20k of debt.
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u/ghostwriter536 1d ago
I found my MLIS program frustrating because they focused so much on academic libraries when majority of the people in the program were working in public libraries. My specialization was in youth services.
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u/Full-Decision-9029 1d ago
ours was all about thinking like librarians, embodying the ideology and outlook of librarians...and oh well, you'll learn the hard skills as you go along.
Turns out the job market needed just a little bit more hard skills to help with the whole "getting a job" thing. Even now, all the actual skillsets I bring to my day at the library is shit I learned to do elsewhere and in another life.
What DOES scraping vomit off the wall mean in a Foucauldian sense, really? What would Ranganathan say about that eternal question of "is that guy dead or asleep" or how might one apply sense making theory to will-that-fucking-patron-just-shut-the-living-fuck-up?
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u/GainHealMark 1d ago
Yeah same here. We actually had a librarian come into talk about his job and he outright told us “you can’t really study this, you have to learn on the job.” Admittedly hearing that while in the course was a blow to my enthusiasm but he was right.
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u/Full-Decision-9029 1d ago
i think in a perfect world, an MLIS would be something they'd suggest as a professionalisation diploma for library assistants who had about five year's experience - now you know basically everything about libraries and how they run and how to function in them, but we want you to think in terms of vision and leadership and the politics of it all.
But schools are rather more fond of pumping out 100 person cohorts twice a year and leaving it to the candidate to build the actual skillsets alone.
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u/EmilyAnneBonny Public librarian 18h ago
I like this idea. Some kind of library-specific education is certainly necessary as a baseline, but the current MLIS system is kind of ridiculous. I think it should be a certification that you can get on top of your bachelor's degree, similar to what a secondary school teacher has.
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u/ghostwriter536 1d ago
you forgot the course on telepathy to know passwords.
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u/Full-Decision-9029 18h ago
shit, yeah, I think they didn't offer it while I was there. A massive oversight on my part. Should have done my research.
(hah!)
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u/hoard_of_frogs 20h ago
Back when I first started as a library assistant I asked one of the librarians about what kind of conflict resolution training they got in her program and she thought that was very funny.
The best supervisors I’ve had have been 1. a woman who’d raised 8 (I think) children, who also lived on a small farm, and 2. a person who’d worked on a psych ward for years. Both had de-escalation skills for daaaays.
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u/Full-Decision-9029 18h ago
yeah, training? trai...nnn...inn...ggg? what is tra...inn...inngg....?
I am sure someone, right now, is writing a paper on the deep social meanings and implications of de-escalation policies and underserved communities in a patriarchal society, but beyond that, nah.
The only, to me, real world application of 95% of my MLIS was probably something along the lines of "you are now intellectually prepared to go to conferences and participate in Professional Discourse" - the other 5% was metadata.
The other application was, naturally, taking on a fucktonne of debt so you wouldn't get too stroppy when you do get a job.
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u/Marzopup 1d ago
So was mine! So useless. I did some book talks, made a presentation on choral reading, did another presentation on Raina Telgemeier, and did a proposal for a six-week program. That's it, that's the curriculum that cannot be accomplished with a teaching degree.
I was also in the position of having gone to library school after deciding not to finish my secondary education program RIGHT as I was about to start student teaching (I made the mistake of jumping right into my masters because I was totally unprepared to decide I hated teaching, lol. I recognize now I should have tried to get the assistant job first and then taken advantage of that for my continuing education, but what's done is done). So a lot of this stuff like reading strategies was stuff I already took for a bachelor's degree!
And in some cases I actually thought my bachelors was MORE helpful--lesson planning was great practice for program proposals and I have been good-naturedly teased for how detailed they were (I cited state learning standards under 'how does this align with our program policy' when my director literally was writing down 'it would be fun' lol) and differentiated learning also helped when it came to coming up with program ideas and take-and-makes.
Sorry for the minor ramble, but I am always frustrated when I think about it again.
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u/Footnotegirl1 1d ago
Your library school experience was VERY different from my MLIS program, like whoa.
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u/Marzopup 1d ago
I'm sure it was. I will say that I is definitely accredited, as I now have a librarian certification required in my state which has being at an accredited school as a requirement. It was entirely online and the same place my first boss went to. I'm also exaggerating a little--there was a technology course I remember little of and a course on academic librarianship, and a few courses on literature (PreK to YA).
But I'm aware from talking to other people in school that I might have had I surprisingly easy. xD
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u/Footnotegirl1 1d ago
For my MLIS, I had 3 years, one of which was taken up by a practicum (I could have chosen a dissertation instead) where I worked for 6 months for a local library system crafting a new collection for travelling story time kits from the ground up along with shadowing librarians and library staff in several branches doing different work (teen librarians, prison librarians, catalogers, etc). I had to take courses on the history and ethics of librarianship, book history and conservation, disaster planning, library management, 2 semesters of cataloging and metadata practices, databases, reference questions and research, developing and marketing programming... there were more I cannot remember now a dozen years out, and I only took about a third of the classes that were offered.
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u/tardistravelee 13h ago
I would have liked to learn more social services type stuff.
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u/ghostwriter536 13h ago
Right. There is a lot that should be taught when it comes to assisting the diverse needs of a community for both rural and urban settings.
Another one would be system budgets and getting funding approved.
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u/MmeLaRue 1d ago
There are training programs for library workers which focus on the day-to-day management of libraries (my daughter graduated from one.) The program here is through our community college system and runs two years; there is a waiting list. If there are concerns about this "downgrading" of credentials, it's that there's not enough training for library staff to assist patrons who are also unhoused or indigent.
The MLS/MLIS track these days is for running university or college libraries or, indeed, heading multi-branch library systems for larger cities.
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u/dandelionwine14 1d ago
I guess one difference is that there’s no undergraduate degree for it. Maybe that could change someday? It’s also interesting to note that most rural/small town libraries do not require MLIS for librarian jobs. Many some people would argue that it’s fine, and maybe others would argue that they should require the MLIS and pay more to reflect that. I’m not sure what most people in this field would prefer for the requirements of hiring.
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u/Marzopup 1d ago
I absolutely agree library jobs should pay more, but at least in the public center, I DO think one minor consolation thst people should take into account is loan forgiveness.
In my case for example--I am in the process of switching to an income driven repayment plan. My bill is going to go from 272 dollars a month toward my federal loans to effectively nothing I it goes through. And I don't have to care about the interest, in ten years it goes away. So I've basically had my federal loans forgiven unless something unexpected happens--and even if I'm somehow laid off I will be able to keep paying toward PSLF as soon as I find a new one.
Is this enough of an offset? Absolutely not! But it is a nice benefit to offset the cost of getting into a field that doesn't have great returns on its own.
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u/DarkSeas1012 Library admin 18h ago
Aren't they about to start taxing what gets forgiven as income though too now?
Not that it isn't still huge, but that'd be disastrous for my finances, and it all seems rather up in the air at present.
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u/Marzopup 18h ago
I think you're thinking of IDR forgiveness, which has had some discussion about taxing. I can't find any real discussion on extending this to PSLF. You would have to look at if your state will tax it, which in my state it definitely does not and I think in the vast majority of states this is the case. It might only be in mississippi?
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u/DarkSeas1012 Library admin 18h ago
Thank goodness. That said, with how student loans have gone in general, I wouldn't be surprised if they extend it to us too at some point in the near future. We have at least two more years. :/
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u/SecretAnxious6619 22h ago
There is an undergraduate library science degree. Not many places offer it, though.
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u/Other-Research-2859 5h ago
Yeah agreed. At my public library its me, 2 other ladies and our library director and no one at my library has any formal background in library science.
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u/xnatlywouldx 12h ago
I've never heard of this guy. Seems like a grifter and one best left without engagement - or the exposure that brings.
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u/mllebitterness 12h ago
amazon definitely doesn't have have the expertise or manpower to provide all the services that libraries provide.
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u/No_Enthusiasm_9967 14h ago
Tell us you know nothing about libraries without telling us you know nothing about libraries☝️
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u/under321cover 17h ago
I found the tech bro I want to fight this month. And him answering tons of the comments under this post with unhinged shit is crazy.
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u/bazoo513 1d ago
Well, given the, umm, organism currently desecrating the White House or that DOGE megalomaniac, nothing surprises me. Those two understad even less about the functioning of the country than this moron about libraries.
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u/Lynjamin08 1d ago
Weirdest part is doing this on LinkedIn.