Battle to save library picks up steam in Dacula

Commissioners directed the group to speak to them following the meeting.

Daymude said efforts are building to generate widespread support for saving the library. Lists of volunteer workers are being drawn up, and a Facebook page devoted to the cause boasts more than 3,000 members. A rally is planned for Sept. 19 at the library and nearby park, he said.

The groundswell of protest prompted library officials this week to declare they will reconsider the matter next month.

Following the meeting, Commission Chairman Charles Bannister said the library board is charged with operating the county library system. He said it was fine for residents to vent to commissioners, but the e-mails and phone calls should be directed at the library board. Commissioners Shirley Lasseter and Mike Beaudreau mingled with the crowd after the meeting.

Lasseter said she regrets budget cuts have forced the issue, but there is not enough money to operate both branches. But Beaudreau repeated charges that the library board decision was political and there were other options available. The Dacula branch, he noted, sits amid three schools.

The library board of trustees voted Aug. 11 to close the 3-year-old branch to staff the state-of-the-art Hamilton Mill Library. The facility is being built with sales tax funds, which cannot be used to pay salaries. The board’s action was to help launch another $2 million in cuts from its 2010 operating budget of $24 million.

“I worked for five years to bring that library [to Dacula],” said Betty Hale. “Now we’ve had it. This is the third year, and they’re saying, ‘Sorry, your doors are closed.’ You just may as well ripped my heart out and stomped it.”