I am a Library Person.
(For proof, cut to Alex’s life montage: Child-me checking out 10 books at a time from my local library, literally staggering beneath a stack as I walked back out to the car; installing a Little Free Library in my front yard; renting various library Zoom rooms and phone booths to work on my Moonshine articles; volunteering every Wednesday at the Northwest Reno Library; making public comment during a Washoe County board meeting, asking for continued financial support.)
I see libraries as cornerstones of society. Not only do they offer hundreds of millions of books and serial volumes, in which are the words and worlds of brilliant minds, they also provide shelter, community, socialization, internet, and bathroom access — all for free.
In a time where I can’t even look at news headlines without my blood pressure rising, how fantastic is it that I, a Library Person, get to witness a push to build a brand-new Truckee Library and resource center?
On Nov. 4, alongside the divisive Proposition 50, Truckee area voters, within both Nevada and Placer counties, will decide via Measure G whether to replace the current library with a new site in the Truckee River Regional Park. You’ve likely heard the numbers associated with the current spot in the Gateway District: It was built five decades ago for a population of 2,000 and now serves more 20,000 residents and 15,000 library cardholders. Currently, capacity is 54.
The modern structure would majorly expand resources for the entire town: meeting rooms, enhanced technology, children’s and teen areas, a gallery, space for staff, and many, many shelves of books. It would also serve as an emergency resource center during wildfires and power outages. While philanthropic support will cover over half of the costs, approval of Measure G would levy 3 cents per building square foot or $29 per vacant parcel per year for 30 years. This levying is anticipated to yield $1.4 million annually. The Truckee Library Joint Powers Authority can authorize bonds up to $25 million to pay for construction costs up front, for which the special tax collected over three decades would pay back. The measure needs two-thirds of the vote to pass.
This effort has been culminating for years and has earned vast support across town. It’s rare that I’ve been at a public meeting over the past year where someone didn’t proudly announce they were part of the Friends of the Truckee Library group and/or rally attendees to support a new building.
Moonshine Ink itself officially endorsed Measure G in June.
Most of those in formal opposition to Measure G in the Nevada County voter guide, I should add, don’t live in Truckee and thus won’t be voting. It’s also apparent that they utilized AI to create their argument. Not only did I immediately recognize the common formatting and style choices, but running the passage through ChatGPT Zero told me it was 99% AI (meanwhile, running the supporting passage for Measure G through the same program told me it was 2% AI). Utilizing AI as a crutch does not a strong argument make, and the Ink is doubling down on the negative impacts of artificial intelligence being substituted for human writing (review our AI policy at here).
Let’s push for space to respectfully engage in (human-generated) civil conversation with our neighbors. Let’s support ingesting ideas and concepts that are new to us. Let’s show our children one of the best pieces of community.
Let’s all become Library People.
