Library delivers for Fayetteville residents

Like many people who have lived in Fayetteville a while, it’s easy to think nostalgically about the Roberta Fulbright library. My husband and I moved to Fayetteville in the summer of 1958 and I remember the pride people felt when our new, state-of-the-art library opened in 1961. The Blair Library on Mountain Street was an extension of that long-held civic tradition that is essential to exceptional cities like ours.

The Fulbright Library on Dickson Street helped spur the revitalization of our historic district 50 years ago, and the Blair Library helped further the rebirth of our downtown over the past decade. It has remained a center for continuing education, a curator for intellectual growth, a pleasant place to enjoy reading and many other activities, and a generator of significant commercial investment. In addition to library programming, FPL provides a meeting place for local clubs, small businesses and after-school activities.

As an educator, I really appreciate the valuable role libraries play in the lives of our children and their families — not every home has books, not every family encourages reading. Nowadays, not every home has computers and Internet access. Many children rely on libraries for these and other resources. Summer reading and other children’s activities help foster a lifelong love of books and learning. Participating in activities with other children and families makes summer a happier time for many.

Teenagers appreciate the library and the many resources and activities available there in the summer and throughout the year. My grandchildren and their friends spent a lot of time at FPL during their junior high and high school years — reading, studying, listening to music and occasionally doing homework.

I know some older adults who depend on the library to send and receive email and who enjoy many other offerings there, in addition to finding new books.

While everyone in Fayetteville has a favorite memory of our library, what almost no one can remember is the last time we voted to raise funding for it. Fayetteville has not raised taxes for a library since 1948, but the use of our library has exploded. Our pride in our library is starting to burst at its seams.

On Aug. 9, we have an opportunity to support our library in a way most everyone in Fayetteville has never done. I hope my friends will join me in voting “For” two times to expand and support the Fayetteville Public Library. MARTHA AGEE

Fayetteville