Letter to the Editor

Not sure if this counts as a journalistic piece, but I had a letter to the editor published and thought I would share it here.


Dear Editor,

I read the most recent letter about the County Library, and have decided that I must write my own letter and let my own voice be heard. Since when are libraries just for students, as the writer seemed to imply? I haven’t been a student for more years than I care to think. Since when does every home have so many computers all connected to the Net? We have one and there are some months it goes without its Internet connection. Since when does every town in Bradford County have its own library? While New Albany does indeed have its own library, I could name several towns that do not.

For the past five years, I lived in Canton where I had a library within walking distance of my apartment. I didn’t get to the County Library very often, but because of the Inter-library loan system, there were many times that the books I borrowed came from there. Recently, I’ve had to move and this puts me in the country, with the nearest library being the County Library. I am now just a few minutes of the Library. With the price of gas, this is far better than having to drive the 20-some minutes it would take me to get to any of the other libraries in the nearby towns. When thinking of what Library to frequent now, it is only logical (and economical) to choose the County. Why close it when it will put the people closest to the Library at a disadvantage? Not everyone can live in town. And even if they do, there is no guarantee that there’s a library. And there are times when it makes more sense to borrow a book rather than buy it. I will often test a new author by borrowing a book. That way, if I don’t like it, I haven’t wasted any money.

I’m not sure what the fuss about adding on is about…other than money. If this were a personal business, or a family home, it wouldn’t even be an issue! In those cases, you either add on…or move to a larger location. Since the County Library is somewhat centrally located, give or take – I haven’t actually measured, I think adding on would be a better choice. And because even a casual visitor can see that the Library is crowded, and since the County Library reflects the County it is in, I think we should be looking at what we can afford to do. Selling books, or moving, or downsizing, or shutting the doors should be our last choices! If we don’t think enough of everything a library stands for and the Programs housed there, then what will visitors to our County see? Will they truly believe us to be the backward hillbillies we’ve been accused of being? I realize that we aren’t talking about a ‘real’ family, but in many ways we are…because of the different programs that call the Library home, and of the people that the library brings together from all walks of life.

I’ve been to bigger libraries in other parts of the state…and loved it! Rows upon rows of books, some were multi-story buildings. And while we may never be on the level of a college or city library, I don’t think that we should shirk our responsibilities to the reading population of the County just because we’re a small rural community.

I admit that this issue is personal for me, as my late father was one of the many adults who learned how to read through the Literacy Program…at the County Library. He was in his fifties and he decided that he no longer wanted to be dependent on others. Even after he completed the Program, he never quit reading or going to the Library. What would a library with a Literacy Program be if it didn’t have books to lend, and if it didn’t have books that covered every imaginable subject? It wouldn’t be a library.

Sincerely,
R.A. Slater

First Post

This blog is an experiment. It was in the very beginning, and so it continues to be. This blog was originally started in April of 2005, but I switched to a different site and this one has long lain dormant. I have deleted all the old stuff, because I am starting afresh and because I want this to be an impersonal blog, one where I try to be more of a reporter than a 'journal'-er as I have another site for that. As of right now, I don't know what "rules" I'm going to decide on for this blog...do I try to post daily, weekly, every other day? I haven't quite decided yet, but will before too long. I'm also not 100% sure what exactly I'm going to be "reporting", but I'll get this figured out before too long as well. I am doing this because I have applied twice for a reporters job with the newspaper that I work for and have been turned down twice because of lack of experience and lack of education. I would really rather get accepted the third time and this is my start.