To the Editor:

I moved to Ogdensburg at the end of 2012. To say the least, by the middle of 2013 I was getting mighty lonely. Luckily, the then hospitalist for Claxton Hepburn invited us to dinner.

There I met the Agarwals, Both Barbara and Ravinder were very vocal about our Library, Barbara even taking me to a Friends Meeting!! Everyone at dinner said newcomers go to the library to get acquainted with the community.

The library became my portal for meeting new people and I found I loved getting together with other women and doing crafts and joining other programs the library was offering.

By 2014 , you guessed it right, my circle of friends had grown! Even joining a rather exciting book club.

Barbara Bush once said” I have found the most valuable thing in my wallet is my library card,” I have to agree.

Going to the library quite often it was very apparent to me that the OPL was so much more than books or great programs. It was a lifeline for lonely seniors, a gateway for those trying to better themselves and an exciting and fun way for the young to learn and become socialized.

TS Eliot was right,“The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may have hope for the future.’ It sure made my future brighter.

The OPL is constantly listening & changing to meet the needs of our community as best they can with monies allotted. This year they will have fishing poles and gear to loan.

In a rural community it is so important to have a free community place meant to enrich people's lives!

Lady Bird Johnson said, ”Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.”

For the cents a day it will take to keep this precious building open I hope you will vote yes, for it is apparent to me the city will be sad if it is no longer around.

“When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut & cut, I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself” Isaac Asimov

Make the right choice and vote yes on May 18.

Cindy Lyons-Hart

Ogdensburg