Be open to all options on library

Let's not be obsessed with rebuilding the library out of the area not touched by the June 2008 flood. Actually, the Fourth Avenue location adjacent to Greene Square, which was recently added to the new sites being considered, was not flooded on ground level but the building there experienced water backup from below-ground levels.

Many of the buildings flooded in downtown have been renovated and reoccupied; a tentative location for flood walls to protect them against future floods has given confidence to these property owners and their tenants. There is, of course, a risk that another 500-year flood will occur before the flood walls are in place, but insurance can be purchased to cover that unlikely risk.

Federal money will be available to help pay for a new library building. A new location will cost many millions more than renovating the existing building even if adding the needed additional parking is included. The flooded building was otherwise convenient, attractive and offered all that most patrons' needed or wanted and could be back in use much sooner than a new building could be finished. Respected past library board member and President Curran Rosser has recommended this option.

The library has difficulty in funding its operating budget. Close the West Side branch. Most who use that branch drive to it and could just as easily drive downtown and have a much better selection of books and services.

Will common sense prevail? Only time will tell.

Rob Moore

Cedar Rapids