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Volunteers could help bridge funding gap at library

By Mary Powers

Statesville

Published: April 12, 2009

I spent some time reading up on the changes in the Iredell County Public Library hours and staffing and all the responses to those articles. Most folks had thoughtful opinions on what is happening in these tight times.

I am one of those people who is seriously distressed about the cutting of hours at the library. I work for the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Iredell County. We make frequent use of the library's meeting rooms on weeknights and this cuts the hours we can use the library. We provide a free weekly recovery support group for people with mental illness on Thursday from 6:30-8 p.m. We also provide a mental health educational meeting that used to run until 9 p.m. I know that I can change my hours and adjust things and our group will be OK.

I am just pointing to this as an example of how this is affecting other services available in our county. I know there are no easy answers and money needs to come from somewhere. I am truly sad for the library employees who have lost their jobs. A lot of these folks have helped with my many projects over the years.

In the search for solutions, no one seemed to mention the most obvious thing to me: volunteering. If we can gather enough people on a voluntary basis that would commit to keeping the library open until 9 p.m., wouldn't that solve the problem?

You want more hours on Saturday and Sunday? Go out there and grab all those folks concerned about the library cuts. Pull together our community in a positive way and give back some of the wonderful service we have received.