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To the editor:

Mr. Barnhardt, I am writing in response to your Aug. 3 editorial, titled Library Woes, in which you stated you disagree with the historical way of appointing library board trustees. Despite your being on the same page as the commissioners,  a number of citizens have come forth with a different view and with questions.

The question isn’t about authority because Attorney Vogler clarified that. When County Manager Barnett reiterated, in response to what looked like a staged question at the Aug. 7 meeting, the answer stating the power of the commissioners sounded redundant. In an earlier letter, my question was why and is still why change the precedent at this particular moment in time?

On the other hand, I appreciate and hope the majority of readers agree with your view: “community means us all, even people who don’t look or think like we do.” We have had notable growth in our community already and newcomers have brought more diversity. Commissioner Jones has said the best is yet to come. I surmise with our new All- American status, additional people will look this way.

To quote from Allan Bloom’s book “The Closing of the American Mind”: “The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness  of other possibilities.”

My second question is do we want to try to force uniformity on our new voters, and old voters for that matter, or allow them to exercise their constitutional rights as we entertain their thoughts, fresh ideas and unknown possibilities?

Alice Garrett Brown,     Mocksville