Eliminating libraries is crazy

With the dogmatic, absurd, and just crazy decision of the new Vermont State University system administrators to eliminate libraries (the traditional ones with books, etc.), we are one “big giant leap” toward the 1984 dystopia of our society. If this decision is an early example of where these four administrators are headed in the future it doesn’t look good for Vermont. Where are the board of directors, the state Legislature, and the New England Council on Higher Education (the regional accrediting agency) in this decision process? Let’s hope that they will take action to overturn this disastrous plan and put some controls on these “runaway” and “run-amok” administrators.

Libraries — containing actual books, etc. — are the essence of our society’s historical record and the source of our culture’s education and learning. Buying into the new media concept of virtual libraries may be “cutting edge” but is certainly not yet a fait accompli in academia or the learned establishment of our society; and this major, irreversible action is, at the least, precipitous, but also to say, ill-informed. Libraries are, or should be, the major place for students to “study.” After this decision it would seem that the only places to do this essential task of a college experience, will be campus student centers, or Starbucks cafes, or one’s dorm room — all very inferior and ill-advised locations.

The new Vermont State University system was created mainly to address the fiscal crisis of the four old colleges/universities (created mainly by the years of severe underfunding of our state institutions of higher education by our Legislature), but the cost of switching to an enormous digital system of books, I doubt will outweigh the elimination of the librarian positions involved. But even so, this decision is most ill-informed and disastrous for higher education in Vermont.

Philip Eller

Norwich

Fund the Springfield Art & Historical Society

At the Springfield Art & Historical Society, visitors, artifact donations, and requests for information continue to increase. It is very rewarding to be able to help people with questions about their ancestors, their homes and the town. We are equally pleased to receive information, donated objects and/or pictures, some of which we had never seen before.

To help with individual requests, the society now subscribes to two online programs. Ancestry.com which is a genealogy program that allows you to research historical records about your ancestors. Secondly, the free Vermont state subscription of Newspapers.com which gives you digital access to most of the digitized Vermont newspapers, some which are long out of print. This includes the Springfield Reporter from 1876 to 1963. Both of these programs are available for public use. We have also become the keeper of most of the Fellows display that was in the Great Hall.

This $9,500 funding request covers a major part of our operating expenses and provides the society with more income than all of our other fundraisers combined (calendar, yard sale, memberships and financial donations). Because we are a totally volunteer group, all of the funds we receive go directly to supporting and improving the historical society. Once again, we ask the Springfield, Vt., voters to please vote yes on Article 24.

Rosanne “Bunni” Putnam

Springfield Art & Historical Society president

A pitch for the presidential primary

First, as a native of New Hampshire, I’m proud of our status in the political arena. Given the recent debate about fairness, I have come to understand how many see the current ranking as unfair. I have a new proposal that I believe could solve many problems and give every state a chance to be first, including New Hampshire.

The first place would rotate among all 50 states based on voter participation rates. Highest voter participation would go first, followed by the second-highest going second, etc. The first five states would hold primaries solo. The next fifteen states to go sixth, the next 15 to go seventh and the last 15 to go last.

Having voter participation be the sole criteria for determining the order of primaries would eliminate unfair political and or monetary influence and promote more citizen involvement in our elections. A win-win for most.

Sue MacKenzie

Lyme

Give us positive climate change news

It seems that every week I read one or more articles in the Valley News about how bad global warming is, and admonishing people to do more in the fight against it. But a recent report that popped up on my computer surprised me and got me thinking. The report was from NASA from last October, and it stated that the most recent measurements indicate that the hole in the ozone layer is shrinking, and has been for the last couple of decades. They attributed this to global efforts to restrict harmful chemicals.

So my thoughts were, is this true, or have I been duped by some phony website? If true, why are reports such as this one not receiving the same level of publication in the local media?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that it’s now OK to stop efforts to halt the spread of ozone-harming chemicals. But I am saying that positive reports deserve equal exposure, as with all the downsides we’ve all felt from the global warming crisis, spreading a little good news would go a long way toward letting people know that, hey, what we’re doing is working, and we can win this.

Stephen Raymond

Sharon

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