To the editor:

Does Lawrence deserve a good public library? Considering the support the library has been given? No! Does Lawrence have a good public library? Yes!

Before I left for another position earlier this year, I had worked for over seven years in the Lawrence Public Library. During that time, I saw a seriously underfunded institution giving superior service to its community.

The staff is outstanding. The library has one of the lowest pay scales for libraries its size in the state. Someone starting in the Kansas University library system, not known for its high pay scale either, can expect to earn up to 50 percent more that someone starting at the Lawrence Public Library for the same type of job with similar duties. Salary increases have to be squeezed out of a chronically tight budget. Despite this, the library staff gives full effort to their jobs, frequently going above and beyond the call of duty. They are dedicated public servants.

The government of Lawrence has seemingly taken the library for granted. Money for improvements to the collection and the facilities has to compete with money for salaries. It has been either/or, never both. Even when the economy has been good, the city’s library budget has been insufficient to make up old deficits. When the economy is bad, the deficits get that much worse. Until this changes, until the public demands that the library be given the budget it needs to perform what is expected of it, it will struggle to make ends meet.

Kerry Altenbernd,

Lawrence