Letter: Get involved in moving new library forward

Talk about it

This note is in regard to the proposed “new library” for our county. We have been in discussion for a long time, and it is time to put our priorities in place. Our children are our future, plus everyone in between them and our seniors.

I would encourage our county citizens to visit the library. At our county discussion, it was brought up about not needing a library because all things would be in digital form. Well, I think we also have to be able to access the written materials. As an example, when our library hosted a genealogy workshop for local residents, where did they get information about their family tree? It was in written type plus the use of technology. Many wonderful writings - and lots of historical information - are only in print, so we need some amount of this form of media available for our patrons. We know definitely we need technology, and we also know that we need to plan ahead. This form of sharing information is not done. We know there are advances coming we don’t even know about, so we must be insightful in planning with safeguards in place that we may grow as our needs grow.

Yes, I worry about money, also. I doubt there is any household in the county that doesn’t worry about it. We need a conservative library, one that says our community puts our dollars where our values are. I feel we need a green library, a library that will fit the needs of our county way into the future; it must be accessible to all, efficient, safe, inviting and include a place for meetings for our citizens. It should allow for space to display our students art work, 4-H projects or host a quilt show. There are so many possibilities we must be open to.

We would like to thank the Worthington Area Foundation for their support, guidance and encouragement. They have donated to our Library Foundation; I look at this as “seed” dollars that will grow as we proceed through this process.

As a long-time resident of Nobles County, a teacher in this district for years, a parent and now grandparent of children in this system, and chairperson of the library board, I encourage you to be informed, share ideas, be open to new ideas, visit the library and be a willing participant in this wonderful project. We need a facility simply because we outgrew this one; what better way to go out, right? That means we are doing our job of encouraging library use and bringing people together.

Tags: nobles county, opinion, letters, library, worthington