There's difference between unrealistic optimism & devious intent

To The Daily Sun,

It has deeply saddened me to read the latest in the public exchange of letters about the Gilmanton Year-Round Library. Mr. Blake's most recent attack on the intentions of of our fellow citizens who were involved in the private fund-raising effort which fully financed the construction of this beautiful facility. Up until this time, I have remained a troubled spectator on the sidelines of this bitter debate that has divided our town in half. But this most recent exchange has compelled me to give voice to my great reservations, coming as it does in the heels of an extremely close vote at the polls to reauthorize funding for operating funds for the library which were refused by the voters last year.

In Mr. Blake's letter, he contends that the GYRL Board should not want "to expose themselves to all the compelling testimonies, truths and hard copy evidence... that show complicity and complacency in how the town was originally allowed to be misled, by the YRLA." Aside from the vagaries and syntactical confusion in this statement, it embodies a threat that he now intends to trot out all "the evidence" he introduced in the debate two years ago. He clearly can have nothing new to offer in this assault. Please spare us, Al, as well as yourself. The public body audibly groaned when you attempted to browbeat us at the Town Meeting in 2012 by repeating yourself ad nauseam. The voters didn't buy it then and they shouldn't buy it now. To give you credit, you emerged at that time to publicly champion a campaign that you felt passionate about. You had a powerful impact in challenging the funding for the GYRL, and in the subsequent year, the suspicion you created and sustained led to the vote at the polls in 2013 which defunded the library. However, my sadness at the resurrection of this divisive debate arises from my conviction that, for so many reasons, I believe you are profoundly misguided.

First, you accuse the members of the early GYRL committee of intentionally setting about to deceive the town — their "complicity" — by making promises they did not intend to keep. This is a preposterous claim. These were good people who worked hard to fund and build what should be considered by all to be a precious gift and a community asset. I believe you have been engaged in a personal endeavor to malign these people and you should stop it.

Secondly, even if there WAS the suggestion — or even a commitment — by the early board that the library could operate without public funding, such a notion, as it turns out, would simply have reflected a truly unrealistic optimism, not a devious intent.

Third, our nation has been built and become great based in large part upon the availability and and access to public education and libraries. While we in Gilmanton did indeed have our "village" libraries, these were small, seasonal, facilities lacking the resources to offer a full complement of services. When the development of the GYRL began, Gilmanton was one of only two towns in all of New Hampshire NOT to have a year-round, publicly funded library. Last year, Lord knows, when public funding was voted down, we might have been the ONLY such town. Perhaps you will not be happy unless we are the only town in the entire country to be in this miserly category. What an ignoble distinction to wish upon the town that we all love and call our home. We should all be proud of the Gilmanton Year-Round Library — and it should be supported by the Town.

Here's wishing for a cessation of divisive attacks and coming together around a common good.

Hammond Brown

Gilmanton