Recently criticized by opposition councilor Ladislas Polski (dvg), the initiative by the mayor of La Trinité, Paul Dalmasso, to eliminate free access to the media library for non-residents and require them to purchase a subscription at a cost of 30 euros, is a classic example of a misguided idea.
While it may not be entirely unreasonable in principle (why should citizens from surrounding communities benefit from a service without paying local taxes? – the mayor of La Trinité must have wondered), without descending into easy populism, it remains true that penalizing access to culture is certainly not the most appropriate way to increase municipal revenue.
On the other hand, it is certainly the best way to be rebuffed and appear to be a rogue mayor.
The stated reason – to compensate for the reductions from the state – does not hold water: what are we talking about? A few thousand euros at most (to date, the media library has about 3,500 registered users), considering the balance between those who pay and those who will unsubscribe.
Mr. Dalmasso must be one of those who take pleasure in creating… unnecessary problems.
It is learned that AMF (Association des Bibliothècaires de France) announced that it has sent a letter to the Minister of Culture to alert him about this initiative. A fine image for the municipality!
The Mayor of La Trinité must realize that he has made a blunder and that it would be better for him to reverse course, acknowledging the Latin adage: “errare humanum est” (to err is human), of which the second part, “perseverare autem diabolicum” (to persist is diabolical), if it comes to this, would be an aggravating factor.
