Here in Tillamook county many businesses and services cater to visitors. While t-shirt and boogie board rentals shops dominate our main streets, locals often must travel great distances to find services to meet their everyday needs.
The dominance of tourist economy makes it all the more important that our towns include places for locals to gather, to get information, and to support the day-to-day needs of all.
A library fulfills some of this need. It is a cultural hub and trusted resource for those who call a small town, “home.”
Our Tillamook County Library system is a vital service to North Coast rural communities. The main and its branch libraries provide books, videos, magazines and other services to all our citizens. Libraries are great equalizers; meeting places for people from every walk of life:
Programs for children, including support for parents home-schooling their children during Pandemic school closures.
Bookmobile service for those unable to get out; isolated seniors especially benefit from the connection a bookmobile can provide to the wider world.
Book kits for book clubs provide a no-cost way for friends to discover and discuss new authors and ideas.
Those without internet access can access library Wifi and use branch computers to do essential on-line tasks, such as job applications.
Many towns lack businesses that provide copy services; libraries provide copy machines for public use.
Our libraries are central to community life. Please vote in support of Measure 29-164 to keep our library system operating for all of us.
Mary Ruhl Manzanita
