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Save Chatham bookmobile

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Staff

Recently, at a Literacy Council fundraiser luncheon, four renowned authors spoke eloquently about the importance of libraries and reading in their lives, as children and as adults. Losing one’s self in a book can be a haven from a difficult life, a way to learn more about our world, a way to process our feelings and emotions. For many of us, growing up without a nearby library is unthinkable. The Chatham County Bookmobile is our local library. And it is a community resource that our tax dollars pay for. While Pittsboro, Goldston and Siler City each has a branch library, North Chatham contains 54 percent of our county’s tax base and only has the bookmobile for a library. For many in the county, driving to one of the other libraries is not possible for a variety of reasons that include infirmity, medical issues, cost of gas and time issues.

The bookmobile has a very small budget considering its range of utility, and if eliminated the total annual savings would be $27,754. If stops in North Chatham were consolidated to those most utilized by bookmobile patrons, there would be a total annual savings of $11,638. These monies come from a $1.5 million library budget. (This budget only supports library materials and salaries.) The bookmobile itself is completely paid for and has many more good years to serve (put in service in late 2003). So the library that serves the largest tax base in the county, as well as people in the outlying areas such as Moncure, as well as daycares throughout the county, seems to be the one that will bear the brunt of the 5 percent cut that the library director and board of commissioners intend to make.

We certainly support the commissioners’ concerns that education for children needs to be supported at healthy levels in this tight economy. However, it is vital to remember that libraries are education and should be supported in the same way that our schools are supported – as an invaluable educational resource. If money is the real issue, our community should have the option to find other ways to fund the bookmobile, including asking the Friends of the Library to make up the lacking funds or hosting a community meeting for creative ideas and input.

This is our community resource. We should have a say in what happens to it. Your Chatham County commissioners and library director can be contacted by telephone, letter, email or by attending a commissioner meeting and signing up to speak.

Luna Mountainsea and Jan Hutton
Chapel Hill

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