To the editor:
As a former avid recreational bicyclist, I am certainly in favor of attempts to promote bicycling and bicycle safety within the city and county. To some extent I also can see the benefit of attempts to promote tourism as well. Indeed the two might go hand in hand, drawing bicycle tour groups in from the Trace.
Consequently, the fact that a local businessman benefactor stepped up to fund the total redesign and repainting of downtown streets to enhance the City for his personal dream of a Native American Museum could be viewed as a good thing. The fact that this redesign was thoughtful and progressive enough to include bicycle paths is also a good thing, even apart from plans for a future museum to attract tourists.
However, year after year I have gone to the Attala County Public Library in downtown Kosciusko. Often what first greets the eye on entering the library is a scattered array of buckets and newspapers spread across the floor because of rainwater leaks in the roof which have existed for years now it seems. I might also hear from the librarians that in the latest rain a number of books were destroyed, some of which might never be replaced. I am also privately concerned about the risk of mold infestation in the library books, a frequent occurrence in overly damp libraries. This is potentially a health threat to staff and the public.
notice this state of the library while also noticing that I've never ever seen a single bicyclist using the new bike paths, not once. I do acknowledge, however, that I think it made the newspaper headlines recently when a few visiting bicyclists did for the first time use it on one occasion. In contrast, I notice that the library is at times overwhelmed with citizen users, the staff are always busy, and during the school year students throng there after classes.
These observations lead me to question the actions and priorities of the City/County. True, it could be said, "Thank you so much Mr. Benefactor for totally redesigning our city for future anticipated tourists to your Native American Museum and throwing in the bonus of bike paths as well." In the framework of the pathetic condition of the public library building, however, this seems to me to be turning one's political back to a pressing current need for citizens living here and now.
Where is the businessman benefactor for our present citizens, our current students, and the library staff forced to function in a grossly leaking library with potential health hazards?
Instead of happily allowing a benefactor to voluntarily choose for himself to totally revamp City traffic to promote his personal dream of a Museum, I think a little quid pro quo (tit for tat) could have been politically applied. A ready bargaining chip by the Mayor and associated officials could have been to also ask the benefactor to direct some volunteer labor and/or supplies towards the perpetually leaking public library roof!
What Kosciusko has now is a grand look for future as yet non-existent tourists and bicyclists, but a rather pathetic look for present citizens who visit the public library. Also, tourists and potential new residents might actually have the public library on a list of places to check out while in town, especially if they have children. What would be their impression on seeing the array of permanently standing buckets and newspapers?
When the Museum is finally built, courtesy of all the hip hip hurray support it has gotten from City officials, and the bike paths are over-run with riders, will the public library's roof still be leaking?
