One of the things that won me over about Union County when I moved here in 1989 was the presence of two libraries within walking distance of each other. Their close proximity told me that I was in a community that placed a high value on reading, literacy and intellectual development. This was especially important to me because growing up many of the happiest times of my life were spent in libraries.
Carnegie has always been my favorite of our two libraries. There’s nothing wrong with USC-Union’s library; it’s my favorite part of the campus. It’s a fantastic resource for the people of Union County as USC-Union is and as much a credit to the USC system as the campus itself.
What drew me to Carnegie was the sense of history about the place. The first library built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in South Carolina it is a living monument not only to Carnegie but to the impulse that led him to commit his vast fortune to improving society. It is a reminder of what the combination of money and idealism can accomplish.
Union County Council recognized this in the early 1990s when it set aside millage to support the library. It was one of the most progressive and farsighted moves council has made in last 20 years. The millage has allowed the library to expand and improve the services it provides the community.
Since 2006, the library has expanded its children’s section, recognizing the role a love of reading at an early age plays in a child’s intellectual development. In keeping with its role in preserving the history of Union County and its people, the library has developed a genealogy section and is creating a database carrying information and pictures from local cemeteries.
Perhaps the most important change is the library’s wholehearted embrace of the Internet. It now provides wireless Internet access through its bookmobile and at the library; its website is now more user-friendly; and it provides computer classes for patrons wanting to improve their computer skills. For many people in Union County, Carnegie is both their driving school, on-ramp to and guidance system on the information superhighway.
The public has embraced these changes; use of the library’s services has skyrocketed. Visits to the library increased 147 percent; website visits are up 276 percent; computer use is up 131 percent; and total circulation is up 26 percent.
This led to Carnegie being named the Best Small Library in America for 2009 by Library Journal. The honor is accompanied by a $15,000 award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, an example of the kind of private philanthropic support for public institutions pioneered by Andrew Carnegie.
That’s not enough, however. The library has asked county council to increase its millage from 4 to 6 mills to offset cuts in state funding resulting from the ongoing downturn in the economy.
Even if the economy was booming and state funding was increasing, council should raise the library’s tax millage. It is, after all, the Union County Carnegie Library and as the primary beneficiaries of its services, the people of Union County should be its primary means of support.
How many generations of Union County residents have visited the library to check out books for reading pleasure? How many have gone there as students doing research for homework assignments? How many have made use of its microfilm archives, it’s computers and Internet access? How many look forward to visits by its bookmobile?
With all this in mind, it’s obvious that Carnegie deserves those 2 extra mills and more. We should all follow in the footsteps of Andrew Carnegie and the Gates and personally invest in one of our community’s greatest resources.
Post a Comment
