@RepresentativeSample@mstdn.party I believe it started in Scotland. It’s only been a few years here in Vermont.

@damonism@aus.social shared power, absolutely.

@jerzone@techhub.social I think one vote for “pegusis” derailed the whole thing.

Results.

@JustRosy@universeodon.com Yeah tax deductions are very very complicated and also very very political. I’m definitely a “stay in my lane” person and try to work on the things I am able to affect (working on local initiatives, and library stuff at a broader level). No shade to other people who want to do this important work and do not want to pooh-pooh your idea (it’s a good one!), but I’m probably not the person to ask about it.

@JustRosy@universeodon.com Yep, tax law in the US greatly favors corporations.

@JustRosy @Krosen_nw Yeah you’d have to have a pretty specifically-defined business for this to fly, but postage generally can be a deduction for a business that I know I’ve used in the past.

@Kingfisher@universeodon.com it’s good, they were nearly out, not out so I was able to buy the to that I needed, I just thought it was a nice anecdote.

@dgerard Thank you. Me and my three WordPress blogs (self hosted and one on Dreamhost) feel seen.

Well I’ve contacted the state library and they’ve given me not just a spreadsheet, but a confirmation that the MEDIAN year Vermont libraries were built was 1912. The AVERAGE of all the build dates that they have is 1919. I have received a very exciting (to me) spreadsheet with a lot of interesting facts and figures.

The average operating income of a public library in Vermont is $160K of tax income and 47K or so of “other” (grants, endowments &c). They’re open an average of 31 hours a week.

@Lyceum@podcastindex.social Here it is! https://archive.is/zWYfm

@Lyceum@podcastindex.social WHAT! Oh wow, that is ridiculous. Sounds like someone was too cheap to do GDPR compliance. But like… it’s been a minute since that law was enacted. So tempting to try calling them and being like “Yes could you read this article to me?” With the Internet Archive still being pokey I’ll have to queue it up at Archive.is and will drop the URL when it’s processed.

@platypus@glammr.us Yeah I mean the actual quote totally screams “AN AI WROTE THIS” because it says “The mean age of the libraries in the state according to a survey by the Vermont Department of Libraries is 1912” Like 1912 is not an age, but I get the gist. I do assume it was Carnegie-adjacent. My library is from 1909 iirc so I bet a lot are from exactly that decade-ish.

@occamsrazorburn@mapstodon.space That one isn’t mine, it’s the Alice Ward library in Canaan, I just love that porch. We have a few buildings down here that look similar (“princess porches”) which are very eye-catching I’ll have to see if I can find out more about it once the Internet Archive is back up.

This grant project has been written up in the local paper and even though they got the name of my library wrong they did a good job explaining why accessibility in libraries is so important. If I am interpreting what the writer said correctly, the average age of a library in Vermont is 112. Can that be right? I’ll have to #DoMyOwnResearch :blobcatbook:

https://www.timesargus.com/news/local/vermont-libraries-receive-16-4m-for-infrastructure-upgrades/article_9354f860-870f-11ef-b428-332408b12aa0.html

I have inquired and apparently there are two other libraries in Vermont without bathrooms. One of them, Salisbury, is slated to get a bathroom with this grant series, the other has the dubious distinction of being the last one! They do have a porta-potty in the back. Look how lovely this teeny library is.

https://wellsvillagelibrary.com/

More details about the grants awarded: https://libraries.vermont.gov/capitalprojectgrants

@shom@fosstodon.org @leapingwoman@spore.social @bookstodon@a.gup.pe Yeah I definitely don’t want to yuck anyone’s yum and HHWGITD is a GREAT book but it’s got some tough parts especially for (some) parents and I always try to point it out.

@leapingwoman@spore.social @shom@fosstodon.org @bookstodon@a.gup.pe I love the new Becky Chambers series as well, the Monk and Robot series. How High We Go in the Dark is one of my favorite recent books but there are some really grim parts to it and it does talk about a pandemic, though not this pandemic, but another pandemic, so fair warning.