(In this week's Loose Lips, you'll find a story of an impromptu dance, a mysterious case of arson, and much more, including this behind-the-scenes look at the frustrating part of dealing with Seattle Public Library leadership:)

While The Stranger heartily endorses City of Seattle Proposition No. 1—fund Seattle Public Libraries, y'all!—it must be said that Stranger staff has very little confidence in the library administration to recognize the true value of Seattle Public Libraries. Marcellus Turner, our city librarian, pitched Prop 1 to the Stranger Election Control Board as a way to enhance the buildings, collections, and technologies of SPL and he never once, in 45 minutes, mentioned the importance of keeping trained librarians on staff or hiring more librarians. When the SECB asked Turner and Seattle Public Library board president Marie McCaffrey about this omission, they downplayed the necessity of librarians helping Seattleites sift through the overabundance of information available both in SPL and on the internet at large. It's the height of arrogance that SPL's upper administration doesn't believe librarians to be the most important part of the system they're entrusted to protect and serve.

(Comment on this story over here.)