I believe it’s time for the small Western mass town of
Shutesbury to build a new library. The MN Spear Memorial library built in 1902,
“where space age technology meets colonial era cleaning methods” boasts high
speed internet access in a town where fewer than half the households are
connected, yet has a composting toilet and no running water.
Our free public library was built sensibly, and has lasted a
long time, but the town’s population has grown from 200 to nearly 2000 and it
is time for our little library to grow up.
The proposal to accept a grant to build a new library
recently ended in an unbelievable tie vote of 522 to 522. Tie vote loses and the people of Shutesbury got
a first hand lesson in Democracy; your vote counts!
Sadly, the library became a lightning rod for political and
economic tensions.
Stolen lawn signs, town meeting cancelled for safety
concerns and damaged relationships between neighbors, friends and spouses undid
the community building we enjoyed during our 250th anniversary celebration.
“It’s a library for god’s sake, a library”, said an exasperated selectman at
one heated town meeting.
What should have been civil discourse felt more like
civil war.
A town divided over a library is a microcosm of the ugly
state of national and world politics. If we can’t even come together to replace
a 100 year old library, what hope is there for the bigger challenges of our
world?
I am a library
zealot. I believe libraries are a force of good in the world, a social and
economic equalizer, saving lives and offering free, unlimited access to
education, culture and inspiration; a free candy store for the mind and soul.
Peace begins
with me and participating in mediation with opponents helped diffuse tension and
increase compassion if not agreement. We
are a small town and need to work together. We still need a new library. A
library is a good investment.
I believe if we pool our talents in a shared vision we can
build a library that will serve us now and into the future.
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