Letter: Opportunity is discarded

Dear Editor,

Last week’s election is over and, sadly, so is the effort to provide a new library for the city of Hudson and surrounding communities. Many hardworking, intelligent, capable and caring individuals committed time and talent at considerable personal sacrifice to research options, prepare applications for grants, consider potential sites and share their enthusiasm with their neighbors.

In the end, either nobody cared enough to read accurate information about the project or those who were against it from the beginning made sure the proposal looked too expensive to be worthwhile. Maybe the enthusiasm over political candidates distracted voters from anything other than the presidency. Whatever the case, a great group of people is dealing with serious disappointment.

Several letter writers in recent weeks have said that a library is an “extra” that we shouldn’t be considering during such tough economic times. I disagree.

A decent library provides services essential to a vibrant, growing, educated community, and for $5-$10 per month per household, I think it’s one of the best deals available. Where else can you borrow something that isn’t yours for one-four weeks at no charge (unless you return it late, and whose fault is that?).

If the local library doesn’t have the book you’re looking for, you can request it from another library, wait until you receive a call telling you that it has arrived, then when you’re done with the book, you can return it to any library in the system — at no charge! OK, you pay a little for the library card, but it lasts for years and years!

And what about the story hours and summer reading programs for tiny ones through youth? If you can’t afford to subscribe to a newspaper, you can find it at the library. If you don’t have computer access at home, you can find it at the library. If you need to do research in a quiet place and surround yourself with a pile of resources, you can do it at the library. No comfy reading corner at home? Try the library. Need a conference room for a small meeting? Check with the library. No, wait. We may not have space. Guess we’ll have to wait for a library to accommodate our rapidly growing area.

“It would have made a beautiful library,” a supporter of the project sighed wistfully as she gazed at the NMC building.

My appreciation and condolences to all who worked so hard.

Tags: opinion, hudson, letter, library