MARY ANN COLLINS
and BILL NELSON
Perspective

Is your household operating on a fixed income and therefore skeptical of supporting a short-term expiring sales tax? Natrona County has experienced an influx of retirees, many drawn for other states, who have relocated to enjoy the Wyoming lifestyle.

Civic leaders have even initiated a study to learn how our community can better prepare to serve the imminent Baby Boomer retirement cohort. If you are a retiree or approaching retirement, we urge you to read on and discover how a new library will benefit you.

Libraries started over 150 years ago to do one thing well: purchase books that would be shared by many people for free. The Natrona County Public Library offers this service to all citizens, but fixed-incomers are heavy users, as they should be! On average, every item in the NCPL collection left the building and returned four times last year ... for free. This is the best deal in town for folks on limited incomes.

For people approaching or in retirement, NCPL has a large number of books, DVDs, audiobooks and magazines to help the transition. A review of this material indicates that a successful, fulfilling retirement is more likely when individuals sustain four lifestyle characteristics: social interaction, intellectual stimulation, health and fitness, and the financial means to support a contented lifestyle. Interestingly, your public library has ways to directly support you in all four areas.

Public libraries are natural social interaction centers, where all citizens can congregate to learn, communicate and share ideas with friends and new acquaintances. NCPL currently does this to some degree, but lacks the number of meeting rooms seen in comparably sized communities. We unfortunately turn away three groups weekly who desire to use our single meeting room. A new library will be designed with several large, mid-sized, and small meeting rooms to encourage social interaction for people of all ages. NCPL offers an array of engaging programs from book clubs to film series and even many volunteer opportunities, but could do more with additional meeting rooms.

Intellectual stimulation and life-long learning has always been a hallmark of public libraries. NCPL currently has over 150,000 books, magazines, newspapers and movies to pique just about everyone’s interest. Many people on fixed income are understandably looking for ways to extend their limited assets. And, NCPL is the ideal place for folks in this category to keep up on issues of concern or learn new skills like photography or playing an instrument. A new larger library will hold twice as many items in order to meet the need of Natrona County’s growing population.

Staying healthy or up on the latest medical advice is foremost in the minds of many retirees. Every day citizens visit NCPL to gather more information on medical conditions or to seek information regarding health care providers. Staying physically active through outdoor recreation is certainly one of our most pronounced community values. NCPL has a large spectrum of materials on outdoor activities ranging from hiking, skiing, hunting, and white-water rafting to name just a very few ways to enjoy your active retirement.

The most important aspect of a well-lived life is to be content and live within ones financial resources. Fixed incomers looking for ways to help with investing and money management can peruse NCPL’s large collection. Likewise, your library offers a number of works addressing wisdom and contentment as an antidote to our culture’s insatiable craving for "more."

Interestingly, the recently produced Casper ‘Baby Boomer’ Study: Phase One found that Baby Boomers are "proud of their library, museums, city services and college" so it would not be surprising to see more retired boomers using NCPL.

Maybe the best reason to begin building a new library is embodied in a poem titled "Bridge Builder" by Will Allen Dromgoogle. It speaks to each generation's responsibilities to its successors. The poem begins with an old man coming to a large stream and after he crosses it, he decides to build a bridge across it. A fellow traveler approaches the old man and asks him why he is wasting his time building a bridge over a stream he has already crossed, especially since his days are surely numbered. The old man responds,

"Good friend, in the path I have come ...

There followeth after me today

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm that has been naught to me

To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;

Good friend, I am building the bridge for him."

Over the past 100 years, Natrona County’s citizens built and paid for all the buildings we currently enjoy. Our community needs a new library building to serve tomorrow’s citizens. A new library may be a financial sacrifice for you in the short term, just like it was for the old man who built the bridge. But your current commitment will directly benefit future generations of Natrona County citizens.

Mary Ann Collins is secretary of the Natrona County Public Library Board of Trustees.Bill Nelson is the library's director.