You can’t put a price tag on our county’s libraries, no matter how dire Sampon’s financial straits may actually be. And it’s sad that we are even considering traveling that road.

Renowned journalist Walter Cronkite put it like this: “Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.”

Paraphrasing that for our purposes, whatever the county must pay for its libraries, of which there are only four, the price is not too high compared to the alternative, which includes an ignorant citizenship.

And yet here we are. With days left until interim county manager Jeffrey Hudson presents a proposed budget to the five county commissioners, it seems as if our libraries — specifically those in Garland, Roseboro and Newton Grove — are in the crosshairs, with a proposal to slice operating hours in Roseboro and Newton Grove, while closing Garland completely.

It’s penny-pinching gone awry in our estimation.

Total cost to operate the three municipal libraries, excluding the main JC Holliday Library in Clinton, appears to be just under $200,000 for the 2025-26 budget. That’s $200,000 out of an over $80 million fiscal plan as it currently stands, barely, we would say, a drop in the old county coffers as compared to much more costly appropriations that probably pack more political punch and, therefore, are less likely to receive the ax.

We aren’t sure why commissioners would even consider such moves here where there are limited recreational and educational outlets — not to mention lagging internet capabilities in some areas.

Libraries hold great value in a community, assisting in so many aspects of life and learning. They are a vital cog in the resource wheel offered by any county, serving as hubs for learning, access to information and community engagement. They provide free access to resources like books, digital platforms and technology, promoting literacy, education and job skills and offering broad inclusiveness, not to mention resources that many young adults and senior citizens likely lack at their homes.

From books to databases, internet to children’s programs, and everything in between, a library is the go-to place for a community. Limiting or cutting off its access is like slamming the door shut on opportunities to grow both educationally and socially.

We understand and even commiserate with commissioners who have an unenviable task every year at budget time, but especially so this year. There are, as we have said on this page before, untenable financial situations that must be corrected, likely with significant cuts to departments as well as a property tax hike for residents.

And while we acknowledge that $200,000 here and $200,000 there will, eventually, grow into the millions that truly need to be cut from the 2025-26 fiscal plan, it just seems unwise to start with such valued services to communities across the board.

We truly don’t see even cutting operating days as a viable option, but if it takes that remarkably small amount of money to deliver a healthier fiscal plan, we would concede that dropping from four days to three would at least keep the doors open.

But closing any library would be a mistake, and we hope commissioners recognize that immediately and take such an option off the table.

Garland needs its library. Closing its doors would be a detriment to its citizens and the town, one which needs all the advantages it can get to lure even small businesses into its limits.

We urge commissioners to leave the libraries alone, looking elsewhere for bigger ticket items that can make a sizable dent in the financial woes they are facing.

“Cutting libraries during a recession is like cutting hospitals during a plague,” Saskatchewan Information and Library Services director Eleanor Crumblehulme has been quoted as saying.

She’s right. We only hope commissioners see it that way.