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Gwinnett
libraries in mainstream
as all open for business on Sunday
By
Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
Gwinnett
Forum.com
Sept. 7, 2001 -- Go out of town for a few days, and you return
always to a few surprises. Some of them are pleasing.
For instance, while away, there was a new development beginning
announced to begin this Sunday. All Gwinnett libraries will be open
on Sunday from 1-6 p.m.
Hip, hip, hurray! Three cheers for the Library Board for this great
move. It is something that any respectable community vitally needs,
an amenity that tremendously enhances a modern community.
Having been away for three weeks, and not being privy to the machinations
of the library administration and its budgeting, we don't know how
the extenuation of opening on Sunday for all Gwinnett libraries
came about. For sure, we are mighty pleased to see this new wrinkle.
You may remember that up until recently, the Gwinnett libraries
were not open at all on Sundays, even though many citizens kept
repeating the desire to see Sunday library hours. Finally, back
last September, the library board saw a way to offer these additional
hours on Sunday, Its patrons came in droves to the five libraries
around the county that were initially open on Sunday.
It reminds us of a similar reluctance, this from students on The
Red and Black, the independent student-run daily newspaper at the
University of Georgia. A few years after the student newspaper became
"independent" from the University of Georgia, it was then
calling itself a "daily" even though publishing only four
days a week. Its student leaders were asked by the governing board
of directors if they thought it would be a good idea to publish
five days a week, not four. At that time, The Red and Black came
out Tuesday through Friday morning.
The students were not pushing at all for five days, feeling it
as most difficult to come back on campus Sunday night and put out
a Monday newspaper. Even when the board pointed out that much work
on the Monday newspaper could be done in advance on Friday, still
the students resisted.
Finally, once some of the former student editors became board members,
the students were cajoled into publishing five days a week. Then
a year later at a retreat planning the new year, the students stunned
the board, liking the new five day a week publication schedule.
"Oh no, we don't want to go back to printing four days a week.
We like five days," they said. They had "seen the light,"
and benefits of publishing five days.
We think Gwinnett's library board has seen the light, in needing
to offer more hours of service to its Gwinnett patrons. The board,
indeed, like The Red and Black, now finds it absolutely essential,
so it appears, to be open at all branches on Sunday.
This is a good move. Its patrons appreciate it. And it puts Gwinnett
in the mainstream of what a community offers its residents when
it comes to hours of operation for its libraries.
Hats off to the Gwinnett Library Board! It, too, has "seen
the light."
FEEDBACK
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Geezers are easy to
spot, know anthem and manners
(Editor's Note: Sending along this piece, Ed
Sterrett said that he didn't know where it came from. But it describes
a group of people many will recognize, a group who are not always
honored as they should be. It will be an honor some day to be counted
among them)
By Ed Sterrett
LAWRENCEVILLE, Sept. 7 -- "Geezers" are easy to spot;
this is slang for old men. At sporting events, during the playing
of the National Anthem, they hold their caps over their hearts and
sing without embarrassment. They know the words and believe in them.
They remember the Depression, Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Normandy
and Hitler. They remember the Atomic Age, the Korean War, The Cold
War, the Jet Age and the Moon Landing, not to mention Vietnam.
If you bump into a "Geezer" on the sidewalk, he'll apologize;
pass one on a street and he'll nod or tip his hat to a lady.
"Geezers" trust strangers and are courtly to women. They
hold the door for the next person and always when walking, make
sure the lady is on the inside for protection.
"Geezers" get embarrassed if someone curses in front
of women and children and they don't like violence and filth on
TV and in movies. Geezers have moral courage, and they seldom brag
unless its about their grandchildren in Little League or music recitals.
This country needs "Geezers" with their decent values
and common sense. We need them now more than ever. It's the "Geezers"
who know our great country is protected, not by politicians or police,
but by the young men and women in the military serving their country
in foreign lands, just as they did, without a thought except to
do a good job, the best you can and to get home to loved ones.
THANK GOD for "GEEZERS".
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
"The First Amendment forbids the government from interfering
with free speech; it does not prohibit citizens from voicing their
displeasure at speech that, whether for good or bad, they do not
like."
-- Newton N. Minow, former FCC Chairman
Send us your thoughts
for this community forum
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the Archives, or to send your original views. Send your thoughts
to:
elliott@gwinnettforum.com,
or to Box 2623, Norcross, Ga. 30091. Your submission will be edited
for style and clarity, then sent back to you for your approval prior
to publication.
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