Some of the fondest memories I have from grade school are from events that occurred in our school library. When I wasn’t playing the original “Oregon Trail” – a DOS based computer program – lost in the latest “Choose Your Own Adventure” book or putting the latest Brian Jacques novel on reserve, my classmates and I were exposed to an array of performances by musicians, artists and writers. Perhaps the most memorable presentation was an abbreviated, candle-lit, melodic edition of Homer’s “Iliad” performed by a local storyteller and musician who took several hours out of his schedule each week to horrify and amaze my classmates and I with his abilities. 

The libraries were in the basement of both schools, crammed to the ceiling with soft and hardcover works, leaving little room for bookshelves, desks or even chairs. In the spring, the library at the middle school – which was next to the boiler room – would be so hot, moisture would form on the small windows in the foundation and water would cascade down the wall behind the books, forcing the librarian to relocate her precious material elsewhere. The library at the elementary school, a much newer building, was subject to many of the pitfalls of a regular classroom; inefficient windows, moisture in the ceiling during the winter and wall-to-wall cheap, unattractive carpet.

I was reminded of the two libraries from my childhood as I sat in Scarborough Town Hall looking at photographs of leaky windows, haphazard doorways and peeling paint presented to the town council to urge their approval of funds to get the Scarborough Public Library watertight “before it gets really expensive,” as library board member Tim Ouellette said.

When it comes to a library, it’s what’s inside that counts. Keeping books dry and people warm is important. While I understood these points in the library’s presentation of their request for more than $440,000 in the span of five years, some aspects of their proposal –  $67,000 for cleaning and rebuilding some decorative hardscaping, $30,000 for a new sign, $133,200 for sidewalk repair and parking lot improvements and $130,200 for a new office layout – didn’t make any sense.

With what’s promising to be another chilly Maine winter around the corner, an economy that needs a $700 billion jumpstart and heating fuel prices doubled from what they were six months ago, allocating more than $360,000 for what I consider superfluous improvements to the library – I did just fine in an overheated basement and a chilly classroom more than 15 years ago – rather than on home heating assistance programs is not just irresponsible, but downright reckless. The fact that some of the estimated line item costs from the library’s original proposal greatly vary – window and millwork repair costs went from $75,000 to $33,000 and office reconfiguration estimates went from $50,000 to $130,200 – but the bottom line has remained largely the same, a requested $455,000 in the original proposal and $443,100 as amended, make me even more suspicious. 

By the time this hits the printer the council will have already made their decision about the funding – the plight of a reporter’s opinion – and I hope at least one member has inspired the council to belabor over, if not outright oppose, any decision to approve a single dollar more than what is absolutely necessary to keep books dry and people warm; in my book, that’s not decorative brick walls, signs, redesigned office space or added parking.

–Nate Jones