Nation’s Health Depends On An Informed Public

Since my mother led me in to meet the “library lady” at a Carnegie Library when I was 9, I’ve never been without a library card. Libraries have provided me with understanding and data no schoolroom could ever find time to deliver. One book has led to another; each answer has raised another question.

One library never has seemed enough. Today, 65 years later, I carry cards for four library systems in Spokane County. And I can reach libraries all over the country linked by computer systems.

But recently, there has been controversy about libraries’ satisfaction of public needs. And about who can get what.

I suspect many library board members don’t understand what business they’re in. Most, perhaps, think they are in the business of providing a facility and setting policy for the procurement and maintenance of documents. They tend to build monuments that have to be paid for by constituents and kept safe from those who have not paid.

Stewardship is the certain moral imperative in the preservation of knowledge learned over the history of mankind. Libraries are the instruments of that stewardship. Without them, no progress is possible - not in sciences, not in arts, not in politics, not in morals, not in religion.

This is the true business of library boards.

It is time to erase the political boundaries of library systems. It is irrelevant that Spokane County can provide state-of-the-art service at 40 percent less cost per capita than the city of Spokane. It is irrelevant that university libraries are subsidized by endowments and students.

Uninhibited access to public libraries is a bastion of democracy. It is time that they were funded by some tax shared by every person in the access area. Here, that certainly would include Spokane County and parts of others as well - and perhaps even some of Idaho.

Telephone access to research desks already is common. Library access in the future often will be made through personal computers; broad and compatible access systems are essential.

The health of our republic, perhaps even its longevity, depends on an informed public - and the times demand our best efforts at assuring we all are informed.

MEMO: “Your Turn” is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a column for consideration, call Rebecca Nappi/459-5496 or Doug Floyd/459-5466.