Library task force must be sure study is representative

If you ask the wrong questions, it's hard to get the right answers. And if you seek opinions only from invited guests, it's not likely that you'll receive broad input.

Granted, Jackson County's Joint Library Task Force was given the narrow charge of determining only whether a shared library for the county and Southwestern Community College located on the SCC campus is feasible. But given the controversy that has surrounded that proposal since it's inception, it seems to us the task force should be scrupulously careful when gathering and presenting information in advance of making a recommendation to county commissioners.

Task force Chairman Joe Rossano told commissioners Nov. 25 that respondents to an informal survey said by a margin of two to one that they would use a library on the SCC campus more often. Not only was that statement misleading, it was incorrect. According to information passed out by task force members during a Nov. 17 public meeting, respondents said by a greater than two-to-one margin (261 to 102) that they would use a library located at SCC less often. When questioned afterward, Rossano said he was including the "use it the same" responses (87) in that total. Aside from the fact that he's still wrong, why would anyone group "use it the same" with either of the other responses that indicate a clear preference? Members of Build Our Library Downtown could just as easily say that respondents said by a three-to-one margin (348 to 102) that they would use a library at SCC less. Rossano got the "more than two-to-one" part right, but he credited it the wrong way.

We have no problem with the task force's unscientific survey; in fact, we applaud them for the effort to ascertain what people think. On the other hand, we don't agree with using what was intended as a simple indicator to formulate "trends." Also, we have to wonder why the "use-it-more/use-it-less" question was even asked, given that task force members repeatedly said Nov. 17 that they are concerned only with feasibility and not with location. Could it be that task force members realize, in spite of their protests, that the two questions are intrinsically linked?

And now we learn that the selected architectural firm, Harvard Jolly Clees Toppe Architects, will conduct its focus groups by invitation only. Isn't that going to produce skewed data? What citizens will be invited, and by whom? Task force members might respond that they plan to host a Web site that will give any citizen the opportunity to comment. Again, while we think the task force is to be praised for the idea, the fact remains that many county residents do not routinely use the Internet.

Finally, the task force recommended, and commissioners approved, the architectural firm with "extensive experience" in shared libraries, despite a $20,000 difference in cost.

Is it any wonder that proponents of a downtown library see a joint-use facility as a "done deal," with this task force only a formality?