The Library Awaits Another Day

It was a heartbreaker, so close and yet so far, when Mesa County by a slim majority said "no" to a new central library. For the staff and volunteers who worked so tirelessly it was a sad evening. The vote drops us down to a second class community.

Thirteen hundred people visit the library every day. They may not agree that our remodeled grocery store is big enough, as they sometimes have to use their elbows to get through the crowd (well, no, library patrons are too polite for that). Some services may have to be eliminated and some new services will have to wait. There will not be room for as many books as were planned unless they put shelves in the parking lot.

Maybe the staff could try the method of the Persian Vizier who traveled with 400 camels who carried his 117,000 volume library. But that really isn't practical either. Camels don't thrive in western Colorado.

But the library lives. Since the collection of clay tablets in Babylon in the 21st century B. C. there have been libraries. Armies have burned them down in ancient times, floods have damaged them, tornadoes have hurled the books around, but the library always comes back. It is the cultural center of a community.

The citizens of Grand Junction have cared enough about cultural activities to maintain a growing library for over 100 years. But now, when the world has become complex beyond understanding, when technology has given us new tools for gaining information -- now Grand Junction says "No, you don't need any more room."

The library is, of course, more than a building. It is the books and the other information and entertainment resources. It is the librarians who work in it and love it and serve the public so graciously, and the people who use it. But it needs walls and a roof.

A library is so many things. It holds the records of the past and it keeps us informed about problems of the present. It helps children to become readers. It is equipped to answer your questions on just about any subject. Its books give information and entertainment, depending on one's desire. It buys a wide variety of newspapers and magazines for its patrons. It presents programs of special interest to readers.

65,000 of the 119,000 citizens of Mesa county have library cards. Less than half of the citizens have internet access in their homes and many of them use the library computers for their e-mail.

And it is something more. Jamie LaRue, a library friend on the eastern slope, wrote this in one of his recent columns. "Or it might be that people come simply to meet each other. I'm convinced that the real story of public libraries over the past 10 years is that communities are rediscovering us as the long lost "commons," the public gathering place that doesn't charge a toll at the gate. You see this change in the explosive growth of public meetings, the quest for virtual offices, or even the casual conversations struck up over the new magazines."

Our more progressive city to the south, Montrose, built a new library several years ago. If you want a quiet place to read or to hold a small, informal study group, you may want to drive down there and take advantage of their comfortably designed building.

But whatever happens, the Mesa County Public Library will continue to serve the citizens of Mesa County. The fine staff is disappointed, but resolved to give the best possible service in a limited space. The many volunteers who worked so hard on the election are disappointed, but resolved to take their message to the county voters at some future date. At 89 years young, I still look forward one day to walking into a new library, and not a remodeled grocery store.

A great community deserves a great library.