I have read Bill Leone’s recent letter in the Penobscot Bay Pilot and agree with it wholeheartedly. I have told the board of the Friends of Rockport Library that I felt compelled to resign from my positions as treasurer and president as I strongly opposed any move of the library.

I took the step very reluctantly as I wanted to help provide much needed funds for the library; however, I could not in all good conscience remain on the board and make my opinions known. As a matter of fact, the last three presidents of the Friends, including me, oppose moving the library. Given the fact that holding such a position requires a very intimate knowledge of how and what the library does you may find this fact very revealing.

I feel Bill was too generous in his comments on the listening tour and the steering committee clearly there was a bias in the analysis of the listening tour results and the composition of the steering committee. The feeling I got from the listening tour was that what people liked was the friendliness of the library as a cozy place to visit. It is interesting to record that many Camden and other town residents are members of the Friends of Rockport Library, surely showing a preference for our cozy library compared to the much larger Camden and Rockland libraries.

While I understand the need for a modest expansion of space on the present site we do not need to provide a much bigger library. We already have a less that fully-used Opera House that provides ample space for any library programs. We are able to take advantage of the Maine interlibrary loan service to get the books we want. The trend towards eBooks will over time reduce the demand for paper books.

At present the town does not provide all the funds for the library and the difference is made up by the endowment, donations and the Friends of the Library. A bigger library will not only cost more to build but higher operating costs. Are we prepared to increase taxes to pay for it? The use of part of the RES site will reduce the potential property tax revenues for the town.

As Bill points out, the prevailing wisdom in planning is not to decentralize centers but to grow them. To propose a vote on moving the library without any facts as to its cost and benefits seems to me to be an exercise in futility. All it does is to avoid the need to properly evaluate what can be done to make improvements to the library in its present location.

I would ask of you to read the report by the steering committee, which can be found on the town's website. My summary of it is very simply given the unproven need for a library four times the size or the present one and bigger than Camden the only alternative is the RES site. Just ask yourself the question: Do we need and are we prepared to pay for a 14,500 square-foot library.

David Barry lives in Rockport.