September 02, 2011
Friday PM

Once in awhile one of my kids shares a truly creative idea.  My middle son, a self proclaimed “computer nerd” did just this the other day as he drove his Dad and I home from the airport after a month’s trip down south.  We passed the location of the city’s new public library.  My son stated:”What a waste of money!”  I asked why he felt that way.  He noted: “Because if you look at the entire population of Ketchikan, much less other cities, almost everyone gets their information from the internet.  Most people read books from Kindle or a like source.”  I thought this over and I think the kid is right.  While I have always loved the feel of a book in my hand, I admit that I find it quicker and cheaper to download my reading material to my PC or laptop using my Kindle app.  

When I was growing up, owning a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica was considered a must if you wanted your children to be”college prep”.  Now, who would bother with a set?  If you or your kids need information on a subject either personally or for a class I am willing to bet that if you are honest you will admit that it is the Internet you turn to!  So what is my point?  Possibly it is that just as we all have to accept progress in our lives, so do “sacred cows” such as libraries.  This is particularly true as we now live in financially strapped times where we should absolutely expect our city, state and national government to spend money carefully and with an eye to what most benefits the citizens.  

I think I would be far more impressed if the city retained the old library in its current, more accessible location and spent one third the cost of the new library adding many computers so that any man, woman or child who did not have internet access at home could utilize such at the library. It would save our citizens a lot of money, maybe at least give our city legislators a reason to give pause before they increase our property and other taxes and most of all, help bring our citizen’s knowledge base into the 21st century!!

Eileen Small
Ketchikan, AK