by Ann Herron

GUEST COLUMNIST

It might just be too much of a good thing at the Tooele City Library.

The new building, all 19,500 square feet of it, houses about 60,014 books, magazines, CDs and other items. More than 380 people a day go to the library for information, books, or to use one of the 12 public-use computers. The library also hosts movies and other social events. Library story time, a standard fare of childhood, has grown from 30 in attendance to more than 100 on occasion.

Good for our library director, Karen Emery, for bringing that growth to the attention of city officials. She should keep asking for funds and support for the library to meet our reading needs.

Although it may not look like it if you walk through the building, the library actually owns too many books. The shelves are not empty because there are no books, but because the books are being used so often. Emery said there would not be room on the shelves if all the checked-out material was returned at once.

This growth is both good and bad. According to the state library Web site's 2006 numbers, the Tooele City library checks out more than 305,000 items every year. There are about 17,793 card-holding citizens in the area. That means the library spent $17.74 on each of its card holders, and each check-out totaled about $1.63. That is a lot less than buying any book.

That's the good part -- lots of people are using the library. The money invested by government officials is being put to great use. The library has an active PR campaign, and hosts a huge variety of activities to bring people in.

The bad part is the same -- lots of people are using the library. That is probably one reason for the restrictive check-out limits. The first two months after your card has been issued, you can only check out two videos, one magazine and/or one book on CD. It is probably just because there is not that much material to go around.

So there we have it. Another good/bad dilemma caused by growth in our community. We need to keep the library high among our priorities in future planning. I credit a great deal of my learning and love of knowledge to the local library where I grew up. Many children today are gaining a love of good things from the information they can access at the library.

Let's keep those good things rolling and the public reading.

Ann Herron is a journalist and former associate professor at Utah State University who lives in Tooele. She can be reached at annherron@comcast.net.