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Improving library service in our rural area is a noble quest. That’s why, in many ways, it was sad to see the book slam shut on a six-year effort to establish a Union County library district.
A dedicated group of volunteers did a wonderful job of demonstrating the benefits such a district would bring to the county. But in the end, the pricetag seemed just too great for too large a percentage of the taxpaying public. A library district would have cost taxpayers 85 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. At a time when La Grande has just built a marvelous new library that is used by people from throughout the county, and when Oregon is teetering on the brink of a recession, it seems most taxpayers did not have a library district that high on their priority list.
The group of involved citizens forming the committee invested countless hours in their effort these past six years. Their passion for the library district concept never waned, and for the value top-quality library services can provide informed citizens in a democracy.
The mission was a lofty one. Organizers wanted to build support for forming a district that would improve access and services for all 25,000 county residents. Grant funds were used to demonstrate some of the improvements in services a library district would provide, such as story times for children, book talks at Union County schools, a visitor’s program to take books to seniors and shut-ins, and more.
The committee, wisely, could see the handwriting on the wall that despite their efforts, defeat of the district proposal was inevitable if it were placed on the ballot. City councils in La Grande, Island City, Imbler and Cove all chose to not place the district measure on the ballot. Union, Elgin and North Powder said they would like to see it on the ballot, although that was certainly no guarantee of success..
The future, though, is not dim. Thankfully, the energetic Friends of the Library group will continue promoting such services as the popular summer reading program. And groups of Union County’s rural libraries could form cooperatives to make them more attractive for grants that could provide services like a Bookmobile bringing the wonders of a library to county residents from Palmer Junction to Starkey. We salute the committee’s unflagging efforts to increase the public’s awareness of the benefits a library district would have brought and think there may come a time in the future when such a district could well catch the public’s fancy.
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Opinion 
