Residents urge maintaining Sandy Library hours, warn cuts would harm students and seniors

Public commenters told the Sandy Budget Committee on May 5 that the Sandy Public Library provides indispensable services — internet access, after‑school supervision and one‑on‑one computer help — and asked the committee not to cut general‑fund support.

“I do not have a computer… To manage illness in this modern world, you need a computer, and the library provides that for me,” resident Lynn Freeman said during the public‑comment period, describing how library computer access has been essential while she cared for a spouse with cancer. Freeman also described youth programming that kept a local teenager “on a narrow path” after school.

Library users and a local teacher amplified the message. “I am personally a library super user,” teacher Nicole O’Neil told the committee. She said her dual‑credit world‑history classes and her own children rely on library books and programs. “As the mother of…