The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

To our community,

 What has happened to reaching out to those with differing viewpoints in a friendly and respectful manner to discuss opposing issues? The vile name-calling which cast aspersions on the soon-to-be former director of the library is unconscionable. Where is the goodness in the people of this community? We talk about protecting children, yet your behavior is nothing that we would want children to be exposed to.

Please reconsider your actions and take the high road as members of this community. If you don’t like the books in the library, don’t go to it or just don’t allow your children to read those books. But please do not take the library away from every other person in the county. The library is an important resource for us all. In addition to the information on the shelves, it also offers a wonderful meeting room which would also be taken from this community, not to mention the knowledgeable staff, who are so willing to help us.

The library should be an institution of pride for our community, much hard work has gone into making this a well-rounded collection of knowledge. It wasn’t that many years ago when this institution was on the ropes and about to close due to funding issues. We, the community, restored this library to the eminence that it is today.

We are shamed by our attitude concerning the library. We had hoped common sense and reasonableness would prevail. Instead, we see that the needless fearmongering has created an atmosphere that is no longer hospitable for residents to remain here in our community. Shame on us.

By the way, if you are unsure what the word eminence means, ask your local librarian.

Respectfully,

Mary Lenox 

Regina Weldert

Dayton, Wash.