Valley, state prove libraries still valued

We may be experiencing a library renaissance here in the Mat-Su Borough. It's too soon to say, but look at all the projects on tap:

• Sutton's library is already under construction and recently accepted $60,000 in donated money in addition to the thousands of dollars the project has already received.

• Wasilla is pursuing a new $11 million upgrade of its well-used and woefully inadequate current facility.

• And Talkeetna is in the middle of a library project that will seek funding from this year's Legislature.

To our knowledge, the last new library in the borough was built in Trapper Creek around 2007.

Why now? Especially in this age of the Internet - with electronic books, audio books, online newspapers and all manner of things social media - we often hear libraries are becoming irrelevant.

Well, it seems rumors regarding the demise of the library have been greatly exaggerated. Unlike a lot of services and industries reliant on the transfer of information, libraries have adapted and manage to make themselves still more vital to the people they serve. They're now gathering places and wireless Internet hotspots and are places to find someone who can help navigate the dizzying array of online resources.

Doubters need only check with a local librarian. Ask him or her if foot traffic has slowed since the access to the Web became universal. Most will reply that, on the contrary, foot traffic has increased.

But libraries also are a constant source of funding ire between the Mat-Su Borough and the municipalities within its borders. Wasilla and Palmer are always angling for a larger slice of the borough's library budget pie. With good reason. Research shows those municipal institutions serve a great deal more than just the residents who live within their borders.

It's a national trend, really, that in tough economic times libraries find themselves on the financial chopping block. And the borough has not proven itself immune to those kinds of pressures. Even so, it's refreshing to see Valley residents still value local libraries.

We believe the state deserves credit as well, as this building boom more-or-less coincides with the implementation of a state fund to match library construction dollars. That funding is a big part of the equation.

But our hats are off to the individual and business donors that gave $60,000 for the Sutton library project. Talkeetna residents are eyeing $2.8 million in state grants, which means the project also will need to come up with $2.8 million in matching funds.

Some of that money will come from the value of the borough land on which it plans to build. Between that and private-sector donations, our hope is Talkeetna's new library will be built with a minimal outlay of borough tax money.