Editor, Gazette-Journal:

A response to last week’s letter criticizing the Mathews Memorial Library and its librarian may dignify the critical letter undeservedly. But on balance it should be answered.

To begin with, the critic seems oblivious to the inconsistency of her argument. She repeatedly emphasizes the "public" character of the library, but then in the very next breath she asserts the entitlement of a private commercial activity to free office space within the library. If a paid professional tutor accepts a client, surely it is up to the tutor to provide an appropriate space for the lessons. Is the library an appropriate venue for what would clearly be an ongoing conversational activity? Should the library accommodate the Avon lady? How about the struggling insurance salesman who needs a place in which to consult with potential clients? Tupperware parties? In the end, tutor and client are meeting either in the tutor’s house or the critic’s shop. Is this n...