What do you think? Send us your thoughts in a letter to the editor. Click here for a form and letters policy or send to letters@gainesvilletimes.com (no attached files please). Include your full name, hometown and a contact number for confirmation.
As a retired professional librarian with 25 years of experience at public, school, college and university libraries in three states, I am appalled at the suggestion that four of the six public libraries in Hall County be closed to save money.
The Murrayville, East Hall and Blackshear Place library buildings are of recent and solid construction. The new Clermont Library building is being constructed. The library personnel are eager to be of service, the computer services are essential to many citizens who have no other electronic access and the children's programs and resources are irreplaceable.
This would be cutting off all of North and East Hall County from library resources without many miles of travel. It would flood the downtown library with more patrons and more impossible parking that it was designed to handle. Spout Springs Library is 26 miles from my home and is not a reasonable use site for me or for most of the citizens of this area. The Nopone technology site is not a suitable library for any of these libraries.
Cutting hours and days for each library would be better use of our services and resources.
Shirley Hastings
Gainesville