Editorial: Library computers need to be updated to keep serving community

Almost 150 years ago, before Puyallup became an official city, Eliza Jane Meeker set about meeting the needs of the community by creating Puyallup’s first library. Naturally, at that point in time, the library’s sole focus was supplying books to the hops farmers and valley pioneers.

But libraries have always changed with the community — adding story time in an attempt to entice young children with literacy and offering Spanish services to reach a diverse population.

So, when the Puyallup Public Library was built six years ago in Pioneer Park, in addition to two floors of books, it was also furnished with 54 computers to reflect the growing importance of technology in society. In fact, while other libraries struggled to offer enough computer terminals to patrons, Puyallup librarians felt satisfied that nine times out of 10, there’s a computer available when someone wants one.

The bigger problem — one that the Puyallup City Council addressed Monday night — is that those computers are dying from old age. A little more than a dozen were replaced last year, but the remainder were around for the library’s grand opening. With the ever-changing world of technology, computers generally enter their twilight years at 3 to 5 years old, making Puyallup’s public computers well past their prime. For example, the floppy disks that were popular six years ago when the library’s computers were purchased are nearly extinct today.

That’s an unfortunate situation for a library that had 71,000 computer users in 2007.

Puyallup City Council was also troubled by the sorry state of the library’s computers, unanimously deciding to give the library $40,000 to purchase 38 new computers.

The money goes far beyond computers, says library director Mary Jo Torgeson. Citing a Vermont Library Association study, she says that for every dollar spent on libraries, $6.96 is returned to the community in a variety of ways. Seeing how the primary use of library computers is educational and professional, the money invested in upgrading technology will be well spent.