Editor, The Transcript:

When the building that now houses the Norman Public Library first opened its doors in 1967, the town of Norman had slightly fewer than 50,000 citizens; it now has a little more than double that number. The street map in the 1967 telephone directory shows no named streets west of Interstate 35 or east of 24th Street East, and very few north of Robinson. According to that old directory, there were five parks in Norman and 15 public schools; now there are more than five dozen parks and 22 schools. But, somehow, there are some who think that, unlike every other commercial, recreational and cultural institution in our community, the public library is immune from the need to grow in response to the growth of the city that it serves.

The proposal for a new library, on the ballot for May 13, is the product of a long series of focus groups, public meetings, requests for suggestions, citizen committees and meetings with the architect. Since August 2002, the library and the city have been soliciting as much involvement as possible, and every aspect of the long discussion has been covered in numerous articles in The Transcript. Of all the charges against the plan, I believe that the most preposterous is the accusation by a candidate for the legislature that the issue is "flying under the radar" -- it would be hard to design a procedure that has been more open to public participation or more widely discussed and publicized than this one. The final plan has been carefully drawn; it also has been ably and persuasively explained and justified in its details (including its financial details) by the city.

Now the issue is before the voters. I hope that all of us who have benefited from and enjoyed the services of Norman's library-or who have lived in other places where they we informed and entertained and inspired by such a facility-will vote to insure that future generations in our community will have the same opportunities that were provided to us by our predecessors.

DAVID W. LEVY

Norman