Americans love their libraries, and they show their appreciation by visiting libraries almost 1.2 billion times each year.

In fact, a recent national poll by Marist College Institute for Public Opinion found that 94 percent of Americans rate libraries very valuable or valuable, and 63 percent would support increased taxes for public library services.

The library is correctly perceived as a beneficial and benevolent pillar of the community.

Libraries are unique in providing educational, recreational, and useful materials to everyone for free.

In these challenging economic times, libraries are being used more than ever for job searches, computer classes, and other resources.

At the same time, however, funding cuts threaten service hours, book budgets, and staffing levels. Consequently, library workers are doing more with less while trying to meet the diverse needs of our communities.

On Tuesday, April 20, 2004, during National Library Week, schools, campuses, and communities across the country will celebrate the valuable contribution of our librarians and library support staff on the first National Library Workers Day.

Libraries are part of the American dream; places for opportunity, education, and lifelong learning but that dream would not exist if not for the people staffing our libraries.

Library workers select or create and then organize and maintain everything available in our library.

From a book for research or leisure reading to assisting patrons on the computer to creating programs for children, a skilled and dedicated human is responsible for its presence in the library.

Library workers -- catalogers, reference librarians, circulation clerks, pages, youth librarians, outreach librarians, to name just a few -- provide access to the past while preserving the present.

I encourage everyone to take a moment this Tuesday to thank our library workers for the services they provide and to remind our public officials that libraries provide vital services each and every day.

Grayson County Public Library works because library workers do!

National Library Week is April 18-24.

Throughout the month of April quilt panels from the Kentucky Historical Society will be on display, and a "Match the Book Title" game will be played, with prizes being awarded at the end of the week.