My first thought as I saw your Wednesday headline, “Library cuts hours, closes weekends” was: Where are our priorities?

Education should be at the top of any community’s list and our libraries are an integral, vital part of having the resources needed to support students as well as providing a literary cultural center to the residents of Hall County.

People with more education are more likely to get and keep jobs, lift themselves out of poverty, reduce health costs and take better care of their families. They support their children’s education and break cycles of illiteracy and poverty.

Cutting back library services affect everybody, whether we use the library or not. Libraries complement schools. The drastic cutbacks show a lack of commitment to education; this, in turn, demonstrates to companies looking at Hall County to expand that we’re not willing to invest as we should.

Cutting back hours, closing on weekends and limiting time at the library children have with their parents therefore shows our priorities are not family-friendly.

Kudos to library director Adrian Mixson who has stretched every last penny the Hall County commission has deemed he should have to run our system.

Where does it end? Will your next headline have to read, “Hall County library closes its doors”? Or will our Hall County commissioners step up and fund our library system properly?

Myra Meade
Chairwoman, Gainesville/Hall County Alliance for Literacy