‘An investment in my community'

To the editor: Community. That word has been used quite a bit when it comes to discussions about our local libraries. What does this word mean? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary one definition is: “an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) in a common location.” A common location or what you might term as your home town. Our home towns are all different, but, there are a few common denominators: a police department, a volunteer ambulance and fire department, a post office and a library. Libraries have received some bad press lately. Some people have been questioning the purpose of a library; some others are saying we don’t need a library, we have computers at home; we have access to the Internet. I can only respond to them by saying not everyone in our home town feels that way. Not everyone can afford a computer or a monthly internet charge. Not everyone wants to read a book on their laptop or hand held device. Not everyone wants to own every book they choose to read, or every CD they want to listen to, or every movie they want to watch. Not everyone wants to do things the way you do. I grew up in the town of Monroe, went to school there and now I live and work in the town of Warwick, both of which are trying to build new libraries. My opinion, it’s about time. We expect a lot these days and pay for it, too. We pay for police protection, we pay for clean, well maintained streets, we pay for nice parks and we pay for a top notch education for our children. We also pay for our libraries to provide “equal access to materials, facility, current technology, professional expertise and quality service.” (From the Albert Wisner Library’s Mission Statement.) I believe they are doing the best they can with the limited space they have available. I can only imagine what they could do with new, larger, up-to-date buildings. Buildings with adequate office space and meeting rooms for the staff. Buildings with room to house and develop wonderful print and media collections. Buildings with more access to computers and the Internet. Buildings with children’s areas that inspire and teach, but are also separate from the main areas for the sanity of the other patrons. The money that each of these libraries are asking for is steep, but they are not asking for this amount lightly, they have each done their homework. Building costs and materials have skyrocketed in the past few years and these are substantial sized buildings that are meant to last for generations. To me, it’s simple; this is an investment in my community, an investment in my son’s future, an investment in my home town. Monroe Free Library Referendum Vote: March 6. Albert Wisner Public Library Referendum Vote: March 8. Heather M. Gardner Warwick