Opelika Observer Staff Editorial -1/6: "Reorganization is overdue"

To many of you, our recent focus on the genealogical section of Lewis Cooper, Jr. Library may seem odd.

“Why does this matter?” is a question several of you have stopped to ask us, so we feel the need to further explain ourselves here.

It would seem to be a trivial issue, a squabble between an organization that ponied up a decent sum of money to help build and maintain the genealogical collection and a library board and staff forced to maintain a section seldom used by members outside of said organization and a few others researching their family histories.

Why involve ourselves in this turf war, especially since so few people actually seem to care about it?

- Because promises were made and not kept.

(In 2007, then library board chair Ron Dunson and head librarian Susan Delmas agreed to rearrange the genealogical section from Dewey to an “alphabetical ‘state’ order.” The current section still sits in Dewey, despite the promises and assurances, and the board’s recent vote to retain Dewey means the new Segraves books will also be integrated under Dewey.)

- Because this problem could be indicative of a host of other issues at Lewis Cooper Library.

(Repeated issues with library staff engaging in rude behavior to patrons, possible structural concerns, the weeding out of genealogical collection books, just to name a few that we’ve begun to find)

Mainly, we keep coming back to a simple question.

Which is better? Serving the people you were appointed to represent or serving an ideology for the sake of adherence to policy?

We suppose it depends to whom you ask the question.

To the members of the Genealogical Society of East Alabama and a majority of the city’s elected officials (as well as the editorial board of this paper), serving local people matters more.

To the current library board and staff, however, it appears that rigid, dogmatic adherence to unity within a library system matters far more than average patron needs.

It’s the almighty Dewey, not the researcher or the benefactors that matter.

We just find it strange when the people who use this section the most (the people who’ve cared about it, built it up and helped the library maintain this portion of our history) ask for a change that would help researchers, why not move to do it?

If public servants aren’t working to serve the public, then what are they doing?

This may be a small problem in a forgotten section of our library, but it’s indicative of larger issues that need to be addressed.

The next Cooper Library Board meeting is Monday, Jan. 9 at the library, conveniently called on the eve of the BCS Championship Game.

We’ll be there, however, and we encourage you to be as well.

Let this board know that people matter.

Let them know that Opelika should come first, always and forever.