An old friendship taken for granted

“The problem is that we are all getting old.”

She leaned forward in her chair as the words settled between us. Her light blue eyes revealed a clarity and vigor that fiercely contradicted her statement, which along with her energy and quick wit made it difficult to believe the woman in front of me was 86 years old. I was speaking with Verna Euwer, one of the venerable members of the Friends of the Palmer Library organization, and one of the key people responsible for the construction of the current Palmer Public Library in the 1980s.

Like many of the people who were lucky enough to grow up between Knik and the Susitna Rivers, the Palmer Library was a prominent feature in my childhood. Even when it was tucked in the shoebox behind city hall I remember disappearing into the books, amazed at the freedom of being able to choose any one I wanted. When the new facility opened across the tracks it was the pinnacle of small-town excitement, at least for a person still in the single digits. The summer reading program put on by the library ensured that my summer vacation was built around worlds conjured from borrowed books and I was now pleased to be able to speak with one of the people who helped make the Palmer Library what it is today. Verna traveled to Juneau on her own dime to lobby for the library’s construction, she helped organize citizen groups, she fundraised and negotiated with property owners to secure the construction site — all of which came together to help impart a love of books and reading on many of us.

Unfortunately though, as Verna explained to me, the Friends of the Library lack the number of volunteers needed to continue to help the library as they have in the past. Since the group funds the library’s technology, the summer reading program, and also buys books and other resources for the library, this is a big deal. Their fundraisers are understaffed and attendance at meetings has dwindled.

I wondered if it was as simple as a generational divide — maybe people on the front side of 50 just don’t get out and help out much. Being someone who finds comfort in the beauty and lucidity of statistics, I wandered to the website of The Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that uses census data to examine how Americans volunteer.

What I found told a more complex story.

The average volunteer rate (the percentage of individuals who performed unpaid volunteer activities at any point in the previous year) for the United States as a whole in 2011 was 26.8 percent. Out of the states, Alaska ranks a fairly respectable 11th, with 33.6 percent of us clocking in as volunteers.

When I examined the volunteer rates of the different age groups things began to get interesting. Adults aged 65 and older had a 31.1 percent rate of volunteerism, placing our state 11th in the nation. 36.8 percent of baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) volunteered, dropping Alaska’s ranking for that age group to 13th. The generation Xers (born between 1965 and 1981 — to which I proudly belong) earned Alaska a ranking of 4th among the states with their 38.8 percent volunteer rate. And finally, 24 percent of the millenials (born after 1981 and older than 16 years) volunteered, sending Alaska back to 18th place.

So what does this all mean for the Friends of the Palmer Library?

To me, it means that while younger people are volunteering, we take the library for granted. If people are like me, they have assumed that the library will be able to exist indefinitely, to continue to maintain the relevancy of its collection, improve its technology and sustain its summer programs. I’ve never properly understood the role that the Friends play, nor have I appropriately supported that organization with my volunteer labor. I tend to see the library as a fixed entity, a victory long since won, which I can simply enjoy. Verna has taught me that this is a seriously flawed assumption.

I heartily congratulate Wasilla for its recent decision to strengthen its library by building what I hope will be a beautiful new facility. We in Palmer should also step up and reaffirm our commitment to our library as well, to ensure that past progress is not lost and that we pass on to our youth a library that is thriving.

When I asked Verna why she was so invested in the Palmer Library she quickly pointed to a quote clipped from a magazine and taped to the inside of her folder. It read: “The library is one of the last decent, honorable things going. This is one of the great keeping places of the memories of man”.

I couldn’t agree more. The Friends of the Palmer Library meet at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of each month at the Palmer Library — they have been good friends to the library and this community, but I fear many of us have taken that friendship for granted.

Pete LaFrance grew up in Palmer and has moved back to the area after a number of years living abroad.