John Kelly, Ph. D.

Before the Boerne city voters is an opportunity to continue the planting and growth of young minds that has taken place in the Boerne Public Library over these past years. One of the bond propositions is to build a larger library facility that can house sufficient resources to serve our growing school age (and adult) population.  These resources have great value for all – rich and poor. And as we see the percentage of economically disadvantaged students grow within the Boerne ISD (from 15 percent to over 20 percent in the past five years), the advantages of a public library are magnified, especially for those parents who can’t afford to purchase books – or the computers needed to access information online. 

Our public library serves a huge number of adult patrons, but I want to point out its utility to the Boerne ISD. Our students go on scheduled school-related visits to the Boerne Public Library every year. We have a close relationship with the staff at the public library enabling us to find expertise and educational assistance in this area. There are resources available there which are not economically feasible for the school district to obtain on our own. Moreover, there are other public library services that help Boerne ISD with its mission.  For example, during the summer months, various planned fun activities in the public library help our students to advance their reading skill and knowledge base while school is in recess. 

I understand some have argued we don’t need a new public library because each school has its own school library. I do agree that our school libraries are a wonderful resource for students. They help teachers bring lessons alive with computers, videos, books and more. Unfortunately, the school libraries close or serve other purposes (such as faculty meetings) at the end of most school days and on weekends when many students and parents need library time. Even when our school libraries are open, the Boerne Public Library provides substantially more educational resources and advanced forms of specialized help. Though some folks might advocate the creation of joint public/school libraries within school campuses, there are security, cost and access problems inherent when you combine the general public (including unknown adults) with daily campus life. 

With a new larger public library in Boerne, there would be an immediate opportunity to match the per capita collections of peer libraries throughout Texas especially now that our region is growing faster than just about anywhere in the country. The new library facility plans call for additional study rooms, a larger youth programming space, a separation between children and young adults, increased computer facilities (always a big plus for student research) and public meeting rooms (another growing need in our community). 

Our entire society is transforming into the Information Age – and while we are already overwhelmed by the vast amount of information, the necessity for finding what “you need to know” and in an atmosphere that encourages scholarship and study will actually increase rather than decrease.  Some may argue that the huge and easily accessible resources of the Internet make libraries and books obsolete. While I believe that modern public libraries should fast transform into media centers with substantial Internet access, the advantages of real books and organized collections staffed by knowledgeable people remain vitally important. Both increased access to the Internet and a growing collection are part of the future plans for the Boerne public library only if it can be housed in a larger facility. 

I applaud the initiative of the citizen advisory committee and our city leadership for their foresight in placing the public library bond proposition before our voters. Local citizens can decide whether the great work of these past decades continues into the immediate future – and whether a growing population will receive the benefits thereof.