Money isn’t the only thing

The saga of the Alta library is long, and I have written about it before. Suffice it to say that the library needs a new home. It deserves a new home. The library board has looked at retrofitting existing structures in Alta, and they either did not meet standards for load bearing or the city council voted against a building choice.

Ever since the library board decided to campaign for a new building, some people in Alta have been smack-talking the project. The worst aspect of this is that one of the smack-talkers once held a leadership position in the community.

His focus is the money. We pay taxes for services. Some of those services provide roads, some help keep us healthy, and some of those services enhance the quality of life. Quality of life is hard to quantify on a spreadsheet, but the heart of a town often shows in how it values the common good, and there is nothing “gooder” than a vital public library.

I know people from other communities who have Alta library cards because Alta can buy new materials on a regular basis. Additionally, the library offers all kinds of activities for toddlers, grade school kids, teens, and adults.

In terms of programming, it is a vibrant place. In terms of physical space, it is sorely lacking.

Right now, the Alta Library is shoehorned into the VFW meeting space located on Highway 7, as you enter the city limits. People often speed there. Years ago, the library was located in this exact space, but years ago, the library had no programming, except for a poorly-attended pre-school program that lasted a few weeks in the summer.

The current high demand for programming forces the staff to hold some events at external sites because there isn’t enough room for groups of any size. They made do during the warm months when some events could be held outdoors, but the winter months will be more of a challenge.

A library referendum will be held on Nov. 4. Library Director Gigi Nelson and the library board have coordinated a campaign to educate the public about plans to build a new library. A video will be shown at meetings, and supportive Altans are putting signs in their yards.

And yet, there are folks in the community intent on squelching this project because of the money. One Alta resident has a “Vote Yes” sign in her yard, and one of the loudest objectors stopped and confronted her. Yes, she said, she knew her taxes would go up a bit. “A new library for the citizens of Alta is important.”

Next, the loud objector went to someone else who had a sign in their yard — and “offered” to take it down and stash it in her garage. Imagine. As if someone who supports the library referendum wants their sign of support removed.

Such folks have a bee in their bonnet about taxes of almost any kind. Perhaps if voters saw a strict accounting of where their taxes went, it might help. Transparency might begin to build trust in our institutions because trust has been all but lost, especially at the highest levels of U.S. government.

In “The Year of Living Danishly,” British author Helen Russell and her husband lived in Denmark for a year. Talk about taxes! If Yoda were to speak to loud objectors, Yoda would state, “Nothing of taxes do you know.”

The Danes pay over 50% of their income in taxes; you’d expect an outcry, wouldn’t you? But Denmark has a one-for-all, all-for one sort of mentality. America used to have that, and then the twin cancers of greed and individualism took over. We’re dying, and we’re in denial that we’re even sick.

The Danes, on the other hand, are consistently among the happiest people on the planet.

Wherever Russell went, she asked every Dane — on a scale of one to 10 — what their happiness level was. No one rated their lives below an 8, many a 9, and some even a 10. That’s because there is high trust in their institutions and almost no income inequality.

It turns out that a strong social safety net breeds a high quality of life, and Danes are willing to build that safety net. Perhaps we should send delegations of American tax haters to Denmark for a visit so that they can see the good that taxes do.

In the meantime, if you live in Alta and want its library to be the best version of itself possible, if you care about attracting (and satisfying) young families and people of all ages, VOTE YES on Nov. 4.

It is such a small price to pay.

Joan Zwagerman writes from Storm Lake, but she used to live in Alta and served on the library board for over a decade. She holds a master’s degree in library and information science.