Library access good for society

I'd like to take issue with Rod Newbound's letter about the proposed library district. He doesn't want to pay taxes for something we already have. My question is, is he aware of what we don't have. We don't have the ability to go to any library in the county and check out books (unless we pay $357 a year to buy their cards). We don't have the ability to drop off books in La Conner that we checked out in Mount Vernon (because they don't have such agreements). We don't have "free" access to libraries for nearly half our school-aged children. (Yes we have school libraries but their hours and number of books that can be checked out are limited.)

Of course it's going to cost some of the taxpayers of this county some money. I pay plenty of taxes to support public schools, yet I don't have a child enrolled in one. There are just certain things that are good for society, and as Americans, we value education. "Free" access for everyone to public libraries is an extension of that.

I think it's ironic that I have a library card from Norway and when I go there, I can check out any book in the country for free, but I can't check out a book from Anacortes unless I pay $76. You see, in Norway, they actually have a law that says every town must have a free public library available to all - even foreigners. I wonder why?

Mickey Bambrick
La Conner

Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald