County COUNCILMAN JAMES RABEN CLARIFIES HIS STATEMENT ABOUT LOCAL LIBRARIES
JANUARY 12, 2023
I would like to clarify a comment I made earlier this week regarding funding a $35 million construction project for a new library in Vanderburgh County. I apologize for my poor choice of words, but I believe many have taken my comment out of context.
First and foremost, I fully support the advancement of education. I think that it is more important than ever that information is easily accessible to all of our community. The eight public libraries that we currently have are a great resource, I nor the council have any intentions of closing those locations whatsoever. It’s no secret that library foot traffic has drastically decreased. It has been on a steady decline since the early 2000s.
I think it is important to ask ourselves why that is. My typewriter analogy was simply to stress the importance of investing in our future. I believe we achieve this by funding new technology and keeping our community up to date with the digital world that we live in.
In my opinion, utilizing those funds for other opportunities (including updates to our current libraries) would have a greater positive impact on our county than funding new construction projects.
FOOTNOTE: The City-County Observer accepts County Councilman James Raben’s apology concerning his misstatement of our local libraries.
Mr. Raben’s voting records over the years reflect that he has been a strong supporter of our local libraries, education, and law enforcement alike.Â
