Potter party at library a great success

7/2/2003

I would like the community to know about the tremendous success of the Harry Potter release party that took place at the Main Library on June 20. Nearly 1,000 children, teens, and their families attended and were able to check out 200 copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at midnight. I would also like to dispel concerns that the cost of this party was unnecessary in the face of decreasing library funding from the state of Ohio.

In a word, yes, it was necessary. The release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a cultural phenomenon, an event that crosses cultural, economic, and socioeconomic borders, appealing to every demographic.

The release of this book kept millions of families around the world up until midnight to get a copy, which truly is a wonderful happenstance when you consider the entertainment alternatives available to the youth of today.

The release of a work of literature should be associated with the public library, and these families, some of whom may not have been able to afford the $29.95 list price, were able to be part of this phenomenon.

The cost of the event was minimal, considering that staff on hand adjusted their work schedules or volunteered their time. Additional volunteers from the Friends of the Library were also part of this event.

The only additional cost incurred by the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library was for security, which was less then $250. The fact that more than 1,000 people came to a public library at midnight on a Friday night in the summertime is, as the commercials say, priceless.

NANCY EAMES

Children's Library Manager

Main Library Toledo-Lucas County Public Library

Corporations should pay zero taxes on profit. A corporation is an invisible person that has a tax I.D. number. Profits from corporations go to people, people who should be paying taxes on the income from those corporations.

Not taxing dividends is a tax dodge levied for the ultra rich. Who would be the largest benefactor of no taxes on dividends? Perhaps people who own hundreds of thousands of shares of stock.

If President Bush gets his way, workers will pay income taxes on wages, corporations will pay nothing, and people who live on investment income will be exempt. Ponder that.

VERN SALYER

Holland

If that wasn't spring, what is?

I keep hearing references to our “short” or “skipped” spring.

What are people's definitions of spring?

Statistics show that average temperature for this spring was very close to normal. March, April, and May were all within one to two degrees of normal. And other than a rainy May, precipitation levels were also very typical.

What is 50-, 60-, and 70 degree weather if it isn't spring? It's not winter, that's for sure!

Get a clue, northwest Ohioans! This is what our spring weather is supposed to be like!

MARLA WIETRZYKOWSKI

Whitehouse