Lately there has been a lot of talk about what to do to meet the growing needs of the Albert Lea Public Library. Some library employees and patrons say the library has outgrown its existing building, despite only having been there for about 30 years.

I agree with them. The library offers a lot to this community &045; for free. Besides simply checking out books and magazines, they also offer movie rentals, on both videocassette and DVD, also for free. Where else in the community can you do that? They also offer free use of computers to surf the Internet, something else you can’t get anywhere else for free. With all they have to offer, they either have to cut back on their services or somehow expand their available space.

Some people, jaded by already having to foot their share of the cost of the new high school and courthouse, think the library is fine just the way it is, at least until there is more money to pay for something new. And who can blame them, particularly when “we the people” had no say in any aspect of the new courthouse? Unless we want all our money to pay for property taxes, we have to draw the line somewhere, don’t we?

Some people have suggested that the public library could meet its needs for space by moving into the soon-to-be vacant Wal-Mart building. I have what I believe to be a better solution: Leave the library where it is, and move the city offices (with the exception of the fire department) into the old Wal-Mart building. That way, the library would have practically the entire building, providing more than enough space for their needs. Parking would no longer be a problem, because library employees and patrons would be able to park in the area currently used by city employees.

Additionally, the Skyline Wal-Mart site would provide plenty of parking for city employees and the members of the public requiring their services. (Maybe then some of those potholes would get filled in, too.) I imagine the senior citizens living in that area would appreciate the easier access to city offices, as well. And at least by doing that, the building would get some practical use. I will probably be labeled as negative for saying so, but I can’t imagine another retailer wanting to move into a dying mall, even with the potential for another grocery store moving in after Rainbow Foods is closed. Especially not with all the development going on in the Home Depot-Trails-Super Wal-Mart area.

On a side note, it’s just too bad there isn’t greater cooperation between the city and county offices. Imagine the convenience of having both offices under the same roof. What if they had committed themselves to renovating the ’54 building to meet all necessary building codes, and moved the city offices there? Granted, this probably would have increased the bill we’ll pay for the courthouse, but at least it would have prevented the city employees from needing a brand-new building of their own five years down the road and selling the city center building for $1. And it would allow the library to expand within its own building &045; at a much lower cost than building a new one.

Incidentally, today’s column will be my final one, at least for the time being. As much as I have enjoyed writing it for the past 18 months, I feel I no longer have the time to dedicate to meeting a weekly deadline. Whether or not you agreed with what I had to say, thank you to everyone who took the time to read it. I appreciated your compliments along with your criticisms.

Dustin Petersen is an Albert Lea resident.