"Don’t depend on anyone but yourself"

someone else who "gets it"!

Don't depend on anyone but yourself

I'm writing this a couple of days after the federal government released its report on how an avian flu outbreak would be handled. Basically, the grunt work would be in the hands of state and local governments.

There's been a lot of hand-wringing over this in some circles. There's a feeling that the federal government should do much, much more.

Dependency on the federal government is easy to advocate, but I've doubts that it would work and a feeling that it would be somehow "un-American." Local government, given the right planning tools, should play a major part.

You're probably wondering why a library column touches on this issue. It's because public libraries have always been an antidote to "letting everyone else do things for you to the point that you forget how to do them yourself."

I learned, in the 1960s, how to change plugs and tune my car.

< ="" ="text/"> document.write("") < ="" ="http://a3.suntimes.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/city/5_1_wa16_nwlib_s1.htm@TopLeft,TopRight,BottomLeft,1,2%21BottomLeft">

We've got books on auto repair and maintenance that can save you money at the repair shop. Similarly, we've got books on using computers and computer programs, and they can save you from calling in expensive experts (or a local teenager).

Heck, as more people frequent restaurants there's been a decline in the number of people who actually know how to cook. We've hundreds of cookbooks that can save you thousands of dollars.

Similarly, our histories and books on political issues give voters many different perspectives.

This is one of the roots of American public libraries. They exist, in large part, to help individuals gather the knowledge they need in order to do what needs to be done. The emphasis, from this point-of-view, is on what the individual American needs to know.

Our dependency on "Big Brother" may have gone too far and the avian flu epidemic, if it comes, may be the wake-up call we need to reclaim our traditions.

- Bob Watson is director of the Lake Villa District Library.