Technology brings a world of knowledge to our smart phones, tablets and PC’s with the wave of a hand, so when budgets tighten some metro counties contemplate taking the scalpel to library services.
For those of us who live in Forsyth County, one of the fastest growing in the state, we are seeing libraries expand in both number and accessibility.
On Aug. 29, politicians joined library administrators to cut the ribbon on the newest county facility – The Post Road Branch. It’s a 23,500-square-foot building with everything one expects of a modern library.
Fortunately for Forsyth County residents, the Board of Commissioners and the Library Board of Trustees understand that these repositories of knowledge may be more needed today than before the digital age. After all, the Internet may be convenient, but is often filled with erroneous information. Having access to real books, other printed materials and e-books in the hushed quiet of the library provides an atmosphere that facilitates learning and scholarship.
In addition, libraries offer free entertainment by way of movies, magazines and children’s programming to many in the community who can’t afford taking the brood to the movie theater where a ticket, popcorn and soda may require a second mortgage. Then, there are the hundreds who every week sit at the banks of computers when the job someone has had for years all of a sudden vanishes, enabling them to search for a new one, polish their resume and even take a class to hone their skills.
Library Director Jon McDaniel says the fact that 1,800 people showed up when the branch opened its doors for the first time Saturday proves area residents believe the new facility was necessary. He and the 100-plus people who work in the county’s four library buildings champion technology as a way to both bring more services to patrons and to utilize it to maximize efficiency and minimize staffing.
Pete Amos, the chairman of the board of commissioners, the body which has to figure out how to tax and pay for everything a county does, says that when all is said and done, he is a taxpayer too, and supports the way the Library System has done more with less.
At a cost of $7.2 million, the Post Road Library joins the county’s three other facilities in helping to bring the wealth of mankind’s knowledge to anyone who walks through the door.
Perhaps America’s most respected broadcaster, the late Walter Cronkite summed up the importance of libraries best when he said. “Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.”
Marty Farrell lives in Cumming and can be reached at martysyracuse@yahoo.com
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