Jay writes "'Rebutting the newspaper's anti-library campaign' is a letter submitted in response to a recent editorial about furnishings for the new library. The article, entitled: "To sit or not to sit: The $329,000 question," appeared in The Daily Dispatch on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2005.
It's a long article but shows a strong support for a new library renovation project by a member of the Board of Trustees of H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library in Henderson, North Carolina.
Excerpts from the article:
"Another gauge of how important the library is to the community is the astounding level of donations the project has received from our community, again despite the bad press from the Dispatch. When funds were raised to build the YMCA in 1988, contributions totaled approximately $1,600,000."
"My own concerns for the library include that critical issue of jobs, but they cover more ground than that. First, the public library is the only institution I know of in any community that directly serves people of every age in the broadest circumstances. It serves people who are young and old, rich and poor, lying in a sick bed or out and about in the bloom of health, God-fearing or atheist, Democrat or Republican, employed or looking to find a job. Because the library serves people from so many different backgrounds and circumstances, it supports the missions of many other institutions in our community, particularly the schools."