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Even with technology and the Internet, libraries remain important

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There are debates on certain issues where the most desirable outcome dangles delicately in front of voters. There are also debates where the wrong decision lurks like a concrete roadblock.

The ultimate choice, depending on which path is chosen, can either define or doom a community’s chances for success.

Such a scenario faces North Lake County residents. At issue is whether North Lake County should have a library district in order to fund services and library programs primarily for the Polson Library.

Many have expressed the viewpoint that the library needs to have the levy if it is to sustain itself over time. Others contend that the library doesn’t need the extra revenue or that it even needs to be saved.

Voting on the hot-button topic started a week ago today, and runs through July 27.

On the surface, the matter seems clear cut. If North Lake County is to grow, if this is to be a place that is more than a summer stopover for tourists and seasonal residents but also a hub for technology-driven access for its year-round Montanans, backing the measure seems to be a no-brainer.

For those who say the North Lake County Public Library District should go down to defeat, that’s just the way it needs to be. Case closed.

Last week’s Valley Journal letter section included one from a letter writer who doesn’t agree on the need for library expansion or growth. The writer opposes the mill increase, and listed numerous reasons for the opposition. The individual surmised that the library as an entity is obsolete, outdated and overly funded.

And those were just a few of the nicer things the writer had to say.

The letter appeared to suggest that for those who can afford high-speed Internet and fancy home computers, the world is their oyster. For those saddled with unemployment, no computer access or the inability to own one, your destiny is intertwined with the steerage passengers on board the Titanic.

You’re on your own.

Despite the suggestion by some that they have become obsolete and replaceable by the new technology that makes information constantly available, libraries remain an integral ingredient in our social and educational fabric. They remain vital to our society.

What libraries face, as do most public institutions, are the challenges of serving the public at the same levels as they did before while operating at the same or even decreasing levels of funding.

I’m a believer in libraries. One of my favorites was not in the larger cities I’ve lived but the one in Hattiesburg, Miss. The Forrest County Library system there features a crown jewel main library not far from the University of Southern Mississippi. A large circular mural captures elements of the Deep South, while the walkway to the entrance features a star-studded lineup of famous Mississippi writers, including William Faulkner, Richard Wright and Kate Chopin.

When you enter that library in downtown Hattiesburg, you know you’re entering a cathedral of curiosity, a place where children and adults can immerse themselves in intellectual stimulation. You know the citizens understand the value of a well-funded public library.

To be sure, a community’s library system can become a self-fulfilling prophecy of how that community feels about itself and its children. It’s a testament to what that community considers important when it comes to not only education but also lifelong learning and enlightenment. It makes a clear and compelling statement that everyone, not just those with the financial wherewithal but those of lesser means, has the right to a well-funded public library.

The day we begin to look at information and access to it as entitlements only for those who can afford them is the day we can close the book on what constitutes a true democracy and a world of exploration.

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