Voters should support library district
Sunday, May 11, 2008 2:26 AM PDT
In today’s high-tech, internet-driven world it is relevant to ask whether such institutions as libraries are even necessary.
And there is always the fact of cost.
Someone, somewhere, must pay for the facility, and that “someone” is almost always the taxpayer.
One can easily justify spending tax dollars on roads. Or police. Or water projects.
But a library? Why support such a facility?
In the end, though, a fully-functioning, public library is an essential cornerstone of any community. It may seem, in this day and age, unbelievable many people do not have ready access to a computer. For many, though, the only resource available for online access is a public library. But libraries function as more than just a place to connect to the internet. In a real sense, a library represents the very soul of a community, the place where knowledge and the free expression of ideas and theories are showcased for everyone. A library actually acts as an economic-development enhancer as an amenity for firms and prospective residents to consider. Also, libraries represent a place where a voter can go and gain knowledge, and in today’s world knowledge is power. Without a functioning library, a resource to educate the public vanishes, and an uneducated public can be easily manipulated to approve items that are not good for the community as a whole.
Is it easy to justify, in these tight economic times, spending more tax dollars on a library? Probably not. Still, simply watching a place like the Malheur County Library close because of a lack of support would be more than a shame. It would represent a real tipping point in terms of a community turning its back on culture and knowledge and reading. That may seem harsh, but it is the truth.
Voters in this area will gain an opportunity in November to once again decide whether to support a levy to fund the Malheur County Library. In the interim, there will be two public hearings, slated at 9:30 a.m. May 28 and June 18 at the Malheur County Courthouse in Vale, regarding the formation of a library district. Supporters of the library district will ask area voters to approve a levy of 55 cents per $1,000 of property value. The proposed tax levy will be on the November general election ballot if everything goes as planned. The library district area would include the Ontario city and Ontario School District boundaries.
Voters should find out all they can about this issue and carefully evaluate it.
In the end, though, the right decision will be to vote for the formation of a library district.
