Let’s hope public telephone stations will be with us for quite a while.

How many among us are disturbed by a dispatch from the American Public Communications Council saying that the telephone booth may be about to vanish from the scene?

The cause, of course, would be the burgeoning ranks of cell-phone users. Even though the number of wireless communicators is steadily growing, there still are many people who do not have access to such a device. They need public phones to make calls, often important ones.

Already, around Lawrence, many public telephone stations have been eliminated and the ability to make a call either in an emergency or for convenience has been reduced. Access to a telephone can be a safety issue, and it would be wrong to eliminate a public service that is so important to a segment of the population that doesn’t have cell-phone access.

Although phone booths provided a convenient quick-change location for Superman, they have their own drawbacks and safety hazards for the rest of us. When at all possible, public phones should be placed in safe, well-lighted locations where they can provide an important communications link for those who can’t afford a monthly telephone bill or don’t have access to a cell phone.

Although there is a huge increase in the number of cell phone users, there still are many people who depend, at least occasionally, on access to public telephones. We shouldn’t be too quick to accept the loss of this important service.