Extend Library Hours!
One of the best teachers my daughters ever had in elementary school some years ago required her 5th grade students find answers to a monthly list of questions. To do most of this work, the students had to go to the library. By successfully completing these assignments, the students became more and more familiar with how to navigate the reference resources and how to work the various search engines as they found the answers. These activities at the library helped students develop life-long skills, which followed them to university and professional research projects.
Therefore, I praise the D.C. City Council for its consideration of extended library hours and days, "Bill to Expand D.C. Library Hours Garners Support" by James Wright, which appeared in the January 17, 2013 edition. This consideration is long overdue in the nation's capital, where literacy and intellect are so revered.
Truthfully, investment in public schools should always be tied to commensurate consideration of our city's libraries. If not, the library system will surely fade away.
Lauren K. Godfrey
Washington, D.C.
Support D.C. Libraries!
Thank goodness one of my favorite institutions, the D.C. Public Library system, is finally getting some long overdue attention ["Bill to Expand D.C. Library Hours Garners Support" by James Wright, January 17, 2013]. The D.C. Council is wisely considering extended hours for many of the neighborhood branches, and rightly so.
Libraries serve so many purposes, including, of course, circulation of great books. Residents of the city use library computers for job searches as well as honing their computer skills. Students need the libraries for research that the Internet doesn't completely satisfy, and story hours for children remain quite popular.
Bringing the D.C. Library system into the 21st century [at last] is certainly the right thing to do!
Carmen Forrester
Washington, D.C.
