Urge Albany residents to pass library budget

First published in the Times Union: Monday, January 15, 2007

Feb. 6, the citizens of Albany will be asked to approve a $29.1 million budget to enlarge, relocate or improve five libraries.

The financial impact on the homeowners will be 47 cents per $1,000 of assessment.

In my opinion this improvement in the library system is vital to the educational growth of the community.

Libraries are no longer rows of dusty books and card catalogs. They are a vital locality for our children and a link to the future.

Libraries provide a living and learning place for the entire family, they support after school opportunities, they nourish and enhance the advancement of knowledge, they supply online active computer links to the Internet and most of all they offer integrity for each and every neighborhood user.

I plead with the city residents to make a special effort to support this much needed improvement in our public libraries by voting yes on Feb. 6.

RAYMOND S. BLANCHARD

Albany