Fresh Ideas by Abby Johnson: Now's time for library with benefits

"It's now or never," declared young Maxwell Thornley at last Monday's meeting about the Knowledge & Discovery Center project. "We really need this library."

Everyone agrees that Carson City has outgrown its public library. Built in 1969 and expanded in 1980, primarily with private-sector grant funds, our library is bursting at the seams. The proposal for a Knowledge and Discovery Center to replace, expand and improve our library is controversial in these difficult economic times.

The Knowledge and Discovery Center is a library - with benefits. It will still contain the books, magazines and DVDs we are familiar with and depend upon. But as digital technology evolves and information is more frequently accessed from the Internet, this new facility will have the flexibility to adapt. It will also answer unmet needs in our town: a spacious and modern children's library, a teen center, and meeting rooms with digital capability and enough computers to ensure equal access to the Internet and the digital superhighway. Support services for business and economic development and a 21st-century facility only strengthen Carson City's hand when recruiting new businesses.

Who benefits? When children have positive places to learn, we all do. School is a good start, but what about after school and on weekends? According to the New York Times, 65 percent of today's elementary schoolchildren may end up doing work that hasn't been invented yet. How to plan for that? Design flexible space that can be adapted with changing needs.

Some people at last week's hearing, citing the economic difficulties of the city, said it is a good project at a bad time. In Sunday's Nevada Appeal, opinion columnist Guy Farmer asked, "How can we possibly afford this multimillion-dollar project?" How can we not afford to do it? City Manager Larry Werner and his staff, with the Nugget foundation, have structured a finance packed that will work, costing only $26 per year for a family of four. Like previous library projects, we have leveraged private dollars. The economic times present a challenge for our small capital city. If we do not take the risk of moving forward in an innovative way, we will become a helpless casualty of the economic decline.

School board member and nearly lifelong resident Stacie Wilkie, 46, said she's been told her whole life that it isn't the right time for projects and improvements for Carson City. There may be no worse time, but given the need for a sustainable economically viable Carson City into the 21st century, this is the best time to overcome paralysis and move forward with the Knowledge and Discovery Center.

Maxwell is right: It is now or never.

• Abby Johnson is a resident of Carson City and a part-time resident of Baker, Nev. She consults on community development and nuclear waste issues. Her opinions are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of her clients.