On the matter of the library

You seem to miss the point while underscoring it, squire.  The point is libraries are believed by some to ill-serve the public if they are merchant enterprises.

I have not missed the point.  I am aware of it quite well.  I just wonder why all the back-&-forth.  If one truly feels strongly about this, then entreat our Lords & Ladies to take action & make a law or speak to the Chancellor of Trade about making changes in policy.  I see more words & not actions taking place.  I had hoped that the wise folks here are sending private missives to each other & to our respective leaders, that is all.

It is nt wisdom to have an independent library (system) be put under the control of those who did little or nothing to sustainb, maintain, and protect the library.  A law is not required, unless one loves bureacratic systems imposed by those who are not part of the system..  The current library is free, and thus is not at all part or answerable to any bureau save the Count.  Now that you are part of the bureacracy, you seem to deire everything run through those who have had little, if any, contact with the institution in question.

You are correct that I desire to have everything run through the bureaucracy that is our government.  When I was not Squire'd, I had no care of what happened within the ruling of the lands.  It was because I had no stake in the matters of court.  Now that I have been Squire'd, I have responsibilities & must change my ways.  Much like a new parent, I must place my decisions based on new concerns.  With this new family, there must be new trust & faith.  I must trust & have faith in our Lords & Ladies to lead us & make wise decisions.

To take your words "thus is not at all part or answerable to any bureau save the Count."  So if the Count appoints someone to handle matters, like Lords & Ladies, is it not the same as the Count handling matters?  For handing control over to someone who had no hand in it's creation, maintenance could be seen as a bad idea.  They won't care for it as someone who did.  Or they could treat it with unbiased neutrality & make decisions that aren't influenced by personal feelings.

I only ask that if people feel strongly about this, then turn your energy towards making the changes you wish to see.

This is quite amazing to watch unfold! This all started as one mans idea and blossomed into a storm of wills and opinions. However we cannot forget this was all simply one mans idea. In my short time here I have seen posts on this wall about threats to life as we know it, monsters and executions and very few have reached the attention of citizens  much as this one has. I say if this man has some form of idea that can raise our economy and also create more jobs and promote the spread of knowledge why stop him. We can learn from both and there is nothing forcing people to go to one or the other. Also if Lord Apollo said this wasn't illegal what do any of our opinions matter...he was asking for help, not why he should or shouldn't do it.

Brax, in all of this, you have said one thing that I agree with in its entirety: your statements are cerebrally obtuse.

Father Haroldson, my point was precisely that no one should be denigrating each other's professions, as Brax has been doing to the one you and I share by claiming his time is worth coin and ours is not. Since you missed it, I will elaborate. For you, at least, I know I do not have to tone the discussion down. We will begin with a summation of the declarations put forward by Brax, and proceed assuming they are all correct.

Statement A: It is not Brax's duty to assist others in differing professions.
B: It is the duty of scholars to stock the library.
C: Libraries should not attempt to generate a profit.
Any money generated by a library would put it under the purview of the Merchant's Guild.
E: Being under the influence of the Merchant's Guild "prevents any who seek knowledge from obtaining it within the law."

There are also a few statements to which no one here has particularly objected:
F: Books cost money.
G: Books are valuable.
H: The flow of information should not be restricted.

From B and F follows J*: Scholars must spend money to carry out their duty. Granted, this is the case for many professions. However, when a warrior goes out into the woods, they occasionally come back with things of value to compensate them for their efforts. Indeed, as our former Chancellor of Trade has said many a time, the economy of Travance has traditionally been based almost entirely upon this method of income generation. When a scholar writes a book, though, they lose rather than gain.

D and E are also interesting statements. Taken with J, we have K: any attempt by scholars to gain monetary compensation for stocking the library makes obtaining knowledge through the library illegal. K contradicts H, or K -> ¬H.

Since ¬H cannot be allowed to take place, we must work backwards. H -> ¬K. K is   comprised of J (or B x F) and (D x E). All it really takes to create ¬K is for B, D, E, or F to be false. ¬F is unlikely to occur until ink starts to pour like rain and scholars can twirl their pens once to create an entire tome. Since this leave B, D, or E to be false, that means at least one of Brax's statements must be false. This then contradicts our original assumption, which is that everything Brax says is true. P --> ¬Q, if you'd like to be classical about it.

I could end here, of course, and leave it to everyone else to decide which of his statements are true and which are false, but I think we can all see that at least E is ridiculous, because that would mean the operations of the Merchant's Guild are illegal. As for D, not every source of income in the lands of Travance falls under the jurisdiction of the Merchant's Guild. Since no one has approached the barony asking for permits, we cannot know the end result. It is equally likely that the barony, or the lord of the land in which the library would reside, would declare it a public works project and not subject to the Merchant's Guild, as they would declare it not. Additionally, it is quite possible to have an establishment that attempts to generate income merely as a way to cover its operating costs, with any additional funds set aside for a later date or given to some other organization (such as the treasury of the land within which it exists). This is an entirely different concept than running for profit, which implies the people in charge would be attempting to generate more income than is necessary and putting the excess in their own pockets.

I return now to A. This is a somewhat disturbing statement, as it implies that either L (Brax's time is worth more than a scholar's time) or M (no one of any profession should be assisting others of a differing profession in carrying out their duties without compensation). While L is merely distasteful and mildly insulting, M is quite dangerous. Since Brax has also said that he is aware of the full implications of his statements, I can only hope that no one else agrees with A, and that he will not mind when, if he ever finds himself in need of anything I do such as battlefield first aid, I relieve him of some of the coins in his purse.

The more astute among you have possibly realized that I have not used C and G. I have not forgotten. C is a matter of personal philosophy, but as Lord Apollo has stated, there is nothing in the law that prevents it from occurring. In the case of G, I direct the following to anyone reading along who agrees with some of the other commenters posting here who find this entire debate useless. Because G, this debate is worth having. However, no one is forcing you to read it.

-Lois

*I am aware I skipped I. The prior sentence should be enough to illustrate Y.