Top-notch library still improving

When it comes to community services, the Columbia Public Library gets high marks, at least from the people who use it regularly.

“The library is one of the greatest assets in our community for people of all ages,” Columbia resident Troy Balthazor said.

Nancy Gause agreed. The library, she said, “is one of the places you can come and see such a diverse population. It’s wonderful to see people from seemingly so many different economic levels and cultures.”

Those sentiments would seem to run counter to the results of the municipal election earlier this month, when nearly three-quarters of voters in the Boone County Library District rejected a 21-cent increase in the district’s property tax levy. The proceeds would have been used to increase the hours at the Columbia Public Library and to build branch libraries in north Columbia and Ashland.

Several voters on April 3 said they’re unhappy with the way the Daniel Boone Regional Library District is managing its money. Some felt that the proposals on the ballot were too expensive and that they wouldn’t meet the needs of residents in northern Boone County.

But if the interest the Missourian found in having more library services is any indication, it seems that library trustees only have to find a better pitch. The citizen topic group studying community facilities and services certainly feels better and more accessible library services are important.

Stuart Dummit said the library deserves more community support. It should be given “as much money as it can use” so that it can continue to improve by adding more books and “periodicals that you can’t go to the grocery store and get off the shelf.”

Library patron Ann Morris agreed more books and periodicals would be a plus. She also thinks the library should be open seven days a week year-round (it is closed Sundays in June through August), and she thinks that if the library were open until 10 p.m. on weekdays, an hour later than it is now, more people would be inclined to use it.

Gause suggested the DVD selection be expanded. She thinks the current selection is too “Eurocentric” and doesn’t reflect the diversity of the community and those who use the library.

Scherrlyn Wallace would like to see the bookmobile used more effectively.

“It seems it’s mostly centered on rural, lower-income areas,” she said, suggesting there are plenty of people from other walks of life who would take advantage of a bookmobile because they don’t have ready access to the library in central Columbia.

Balthazor said he’s been using the library a lot more often since his child was born. In a perfect world, he said, it would have even more things for children and parents to do, but he’s happy with the programs it does provide.

“I think (the library) serves its purpose perfectly,” Balthazor said. “It provides a great cross-section for families and individuals.”