Library

The informational meeting on the library proposal was held today at the north firehouse. Quite a few folks came, I'd say about 50. They listened politely to the consultant the town hired as he went through his charts, talking about putting a new library here or there on town property He then opened up the meeting to questions from the floor. Most of the "questions" were statements in opposition to a new library, with a smattering of statements in support. The meeting then was broken up into groups that were supposed to talk about various aspects of the process, but I and lots of other people left because we weren't interested in various aspects of the process, we just wanted to express our opposition.

Any reasonable person would come away from the meeting with the belief that there was little - make that no - chance of a new library being built. But I'm sure the proponents won't get that message, just like the proponents of last year's annex proposal didn't get the message when the townspeople overwhelmingly expressed their opposition. That's not because the proponents are dense, it's because they're persistent. They use the "nose under the tent" approach: If you just keep talking about it (and hiring consultants to do fancy presentations), eventually it acquires a life of its own, and the opponents get tired of fighting.

So if you're opposed to spending any more time or money on the library dream, let the selectmen know. If we don't nip this thing in the bud, the proponents could slip it through.