Hello or Goodbye to a New Library?

It’s never surprising to me when a Beatles song captures the spirit of real events unfolding in our lives, but recently this particular tune has really done that:  “You say ‘Yes,’ I say ‘No.”  You say ‘Stop’ and I say ‘Go, go, go.”  Those of us over 50 will no doubt remember “Hello Goodbye” from the Magical Mystery Tour album that came out in 1967.  When he was asked to explain where the lyrics came from, Paul apparently said, among other things, “If you have black you have to have white. That’s the amazing thing about life.”  Once again, it’s all about contrasts.

In my little town in western Massachusetts, nestled in the hills above the bustling college town of Amherst, two colors—or two sides– have collided all right, and it remains to be seen how they will work out their differences. It’s about whether or not to build a new library, which could be funded partly by a $2.1 million grant from the state  (with a fast-approaching deadline at the end of this month) and partly by the town’s share of $1.4 million, which would be raised by some donations and mostly property taxes, on a sliding scale.  Not surprisingly, it’s this last fact that has become the troublesome part for many home owners, particularly those who have lived here for a long time and watched their taxes rise over and over again.

Without going into the complicated history of the votes over the past few months, I’ll just say that the most recent vote on the question of whether to go ahead with the current funding-to-build plan (with actual design still to be worked out) resulted in, at first, an almost unbelievable 522 to 522 tie.  As a friend of mine said in the paper, “It was like tossing a penny and having it land on its side.”  A few days later, we heard that one vote, at first uncounted because of a residency question, was in fact ruled valid…and it was a “yes.”  But it’s not over yet:  now we will go on to a recount, requested by the opposition, who say there are eight challenged ballots among the original ones.  We remain on the edge of our seats, watching that penny – and glancing at each other, a little bit.  Now that we know how divided we are on this issue, how do we go forward – not only legally, but also emotionally, towards greater understanding and also resolution?

Our current little library is sweet but a little comical because it is so very tiny, and it doesn’t even have a bathroom.  You walk in, the door jingles, and everybody notices.  When our family first moved here, a decade ago, I joined the committee that was working back then on plans for a new building.  Those plans were ultimately squelched, and soon the process started all over again.  As generally happens with these things, a number of devoted people have worked extremely hard towards the goal, clearly believing in the goodness of their cause for all town residents.  Their visits to other towns where libraries had recently been built served to confirm the many benefits of a well-planned building:  it can welcome every age group, providing books and other resources as well as community programs in a comfortable meeting room.  To turn to the Beatles again, many believe it would be a place for people to “come together.”

That’s all fine and good, say those who are opposed to the plan; they insist that they have “nothing against” libraries or books and resent being characterized that way — it’s just that they believe we can’t afford it in these times.  If you think of a town as a household, they say, you have to make certain hard decisions about what you might like and what you really ought to buy.  And besides, they say, the fact that there are wonderful, larger libraries in nearby towns is a reason not to go forward:  who can’t travel a few miles to those buildings?

In recent weeks, there have been a series of community forums in various locations, so that people — particularly the “No” people – could have their objections heard and have any questions answered by “Yes” people.  I went to one of these, and the tone was very civil; it was clear, too, that a number of us were meeting each other for the first time.  There was plenty of good listening going on, and also, unless I’m mistaken, a fair amount of anxiety about finding enough common ground to know how to proceed.

The thing is, really close votes like this one in small towns are significantly different from very close outcomes in, say, athletic contests.  In sports, a back-and-forth game or a tie in the final minutes — that’s what the fans like to see.  One team prevails, finally, and fair is fair.  For the participants, it can be excruciating (having just played one of these tennis matches, I know full well) but generally there is not much concern about what happens afterwards.   What else can we do but let it go and prepare for the next game?

Right now, though, in my hometown blessed with so many wonderful trails in the woods, there is a palpable sense of people trying to figure out which is the path to harmony.   We still can’t say “Hello” and “Goodbye” at the same time and really get anywhere, but there is progress in the fact that most of us wouldn’t any longer espouse  “I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello.”  Whatever happens, we can see each other better and some doors have been opened, even in the middle of winter.