I'm not sure of the numbers, but I assume there are over 1,000 people subscribing to Mich-L. If it takes a library staff member 30 seconds to open read and process an email, libraries are spending real money for staff to use and monitor the Mich-L list. Generally, I think this is money well spent. This morning, on another listserv, I receive 11 messages about a library system's automation problem. For libraries not on that shared system, each of our employees got 11 spam messages. We have 130 employees and all though many of them (pages, custodial staff, office staff, etc.) do not subscribe to that list, many of our librarians and managers do. We paid them a salary to delete those messages. I've seen this on Mich-L as well. Just before the 4th of July, there was a flurry of postings that libraries were closing for the 4th. This was a waste of time. I doubt there was a library open on the 4th of July and if there was a library open I would have been interested in hearing who they were. There occasionally is a flurry of announcements about story times or other programs. I'm really only interested in hearing about very unique programs or programs that caused or are causing a stir (drag queen storytimes). I ask that people pause a moment before they share. Is this information the entire state needs to hear. When you extrapolate the costs across the state, is this really a good use of libraries' scarce funding? Christine Lind Hage Director, Rochester Hills Public Library 500 Olde Towne Road Rochester, MI 48307-2043 248/650-7122 The E's of Libraries®: Education, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Empowerment, Engagement