EDITORIAL: Public library wise to upgrade, increase computer access

5:27 PM, Aug. 17, 2013  |  Comments
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For many of us, the public library will always be associated with books, with bound pages filled with rivers of ink that helped us discover new worlds. Books that we could take home and experience, or big library-based reference volumes filled with deep and esoteric facts.

Libraries continue to embody that spirit of search and discovery, but in a way that has been changed as dramatically as the way we read a newspaper online, read an E-book on a tablet computer or generate a social media message via Facebook. Libraries remain special, in part, for making this new digital era available to more Americans.

Libraries also remain an important ingredient of our democracy. James Madison once said, "Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." While Madison probably could not have dreamed of today's Information Age, it's still true that our system of government can only be as well-informed as its people. And libraries play a key role in ensuring that more citizens have access to information. As such public libraries remain among our most trusted government institutions -- a safe place, usually clean and relatively quiet, to read, research and learn.

Our local public library took a major step recently to maintain its historical role as a place that is culturally ingrained as a trusted source of free and open information access and exchange.

Patrons of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library now have more computers thanks to a project of the Montgomery County Library Foundation.

A total of 48 new computers were purchased through the state at a cost of about $65,000. Along with the computers, the Foundation also paid for desks for the units to sit on, and also upgraded the library's second-floor Reference Desk for a total of about $120,000.

Previously, the library had about six public access computers on the second floor near the reference desk and 28 in a computer lab room that could be closed off from the main library for classes.

Beyond providing the joy of easy access to online information, libraries are helping local citizens navigate the digital landscape.

A third of Americans - mostly older, rural and or poor - lack broadband access at home and without library access, couldn't participate fully in contemporary life, much less in the global Internet-enabled economy. Many simply can't yet afford a capable home computer and a fast connection to the information highway.

For example, job-seeking can be hard work. Imagine trying to finding work without access to the Internet. It's estimated that 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies only accept online applications. Certainly, scores of local job-seekers use our public library resources as part of their job search, with many filling out applications or submitting resumes.

Our local library is a portal to other worlds, a pathway to involvement in our own community, and for many an essential aid in creating a better future. The Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library is commended for its wise use of resources to upgrade and increase its public computers and give more access to digital information to more citizens.

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