Essay

Benefits of Our Public Library

All 15 Jackson County libraries closed on April 6, 2007 due to a cut in federal funding which left the libraries with a "$7 million deficit - nearly 80 percent of the system's budget." (jcls.org). Effects of the closures are an issue that all residents of Jackson County are going to ponder as they decide how to vote on May 15, 2007. Measure 15-75, if passed, will provide the funding the libraries need to reopen. One must understand the benefits of our public library in order to understand the multitude of the effects that no libraries will have on our community.

If all registered voters understood the benefits, they would know the importance of a "yes" vote on Measure 15-75. Benefits of our County Library, as stated by Joseph Davis, Save Our Library System, in the Official Jackson County 2007 Special Election Voters' Pamphlet, include:

* "Each library provides a wealth of knowledge and information to area residents

* Each library serves as a community center

* Each library gives children a place to become more accomplished readers

* Each library functions as a job-search center

* Each library provides help to students with their homework and a vital resource for home-schooled children."

In addition, public libraries are a place where, regardless of your income, or standing in the community, you are always welcome to go. To emphasize this point, the following is etched on the outside of the recently closed Medford branch of the Jackson County libraries: "There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration - Andrew Carnegie."

Individuals voting on Measure 15-75 need to take into consideration the affects the library closures have on our community