The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Opinion

Discussion

October 1, 2012

Your View: Losing library big loss for Seneca

By Marilyn S. White Special to The Globe

SENECA, Mo. — I am writing to protest the closing of the Seneca Branch Library.

Can you remember getting your first library card? The librarian helped you fill out the form. Your first card was a temporary one, and you could get two books the first time. The librarian showed you where your books were. Remember how all those rows of books looked? Remember how carefully you made your first choice? How proud you were when you took them back to the desk. The librarian told you the books had to be back in two weeks. You nodded in excited agreement. Then you proudly walked home carrying your books in your arms close to your chest. At home, you rushed to your room, flopped down on your bed, and started to read.

Now imagine being denied the opportunity and privilege of that feeling. The library in Seneca is so important. For many, it is their only access to books and computers. For those of us who love books, losing the library is like a death in the family. Books impart knowledge, entertain, spark ideas and heal. We all realize the main library in Neosho is still available to us. But so many of the parents here in Seneca work. Some do not have cars. Trying to get children to Neosho every time they need a book or reference material could be quite a hardship, not to mention the risk that’s taken driving on icy roads in the winter to get a book back on time.

There must be a way to reconsider the decision to close the Seneca branch. Surely not every option has been explored. I understand the utility bills are too high for the library budget. Perhaps alternative energy sources could be utilized.

This news has been so sudden and such a shock to all of us who use the Seneca Library. Please give everyone concerned more time to find a way to save it from closing.

A town without a library is a town without a heart.

Marilyn S. White

Seneca

 

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