For the past several years, the Wilton selectmen and the town Finance Committee have attempted to slash the library budget, despite the fact that the community has overwhelmingly opposed their budget cutting measures at each town meeting.

Most recently, Board of Selectmen Chairman Terry Brann has suggested that patrons pay one dollar each to take out a book. More than 60 percent of the students in the local school district quality for free and/or reduced school lunches. Now Brann is suggesting that people who cannot afford to eat should pay a dollar to have the privilege of reading a book?

What about the people who use the library computers to look for work? Should the unemployed pay per view on the computers?

To show their “goodwill,” these same selectmen are offering to donate $50 per person if, and only if, the library can creatively find some new way of making three times as much as the selectmen donate.

Is that a joke?

The library has routinely raised thousands of dollars every year to help keep the facility open. In addition, volunteers give hundreds of hours of free labor every month. The paid staff go without insurance and are compensated with unacceptably low wages.

Instead of trying to close the centerpiece of the downtown, isn’t it about time the selectmen and Finance Committee stop attacking the library and, instead, show some appreciation for the dedication of people who spend every day enhancing the intellectual lives of the community?

Many thanks to those who supported the budget.

Jan Collins, Wilton


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