To the Editor:

Step onto several of the walkways leading in and out of the Booth Library and you will notice it is lined with bricks. Etched into the bricks are names. Mostly, they are Newtown names – of individuals, of couples and of families, who throughout the years have demonstrated their devotion to the library that welcomed them and which their dedication and donations helped to build.

Those bricks are also symbols of that welcoming tradition; pathways to the warm, inviting place of learning and discovery the library became. Sadly, all of that is threatened by the turmoil in which the library is now engulfed.

Through ignorance or arrogance, ill-considered changes have been made in personnel and placement of resources without regard or understanding of the library’s unique appeal or the needs of those who visit it. Nor has the new director and the members of the board who chose him displayed any real sensitivity to the concerns that have been raised.

The next time the director and those board members approach the library and step onto those walks, I hope they will look down at the bricks and try to understand their meaning. Otherwise, there will be fewer of us following their footsteps in the days ahead.

Very sincerely,

Ray Sipherd

44 Echo Valley Road, Newtown                    September 10, 2013