Celebration day: Mount Olive community should be proud of what it has accomplished

Sometimes the best way to get something done is to do it yourself.

That's exactly what happened when the community decided to band together in Mount Olive and the surrounding areas to get the county to build a new library there.

It started with a grassroots campaign -- one that raised many thousands of dollars to push the dream of a new facility closer to reality.

And then there was the problem of a building.

The community got to work again to put pressure on county leaders to not only help make the project happen, but to not drop the ball when the budget got rough.

The battle wasn't easy. The money the community raised came in handy when there was a glitch, and county leaders asked the group to pay for one of the fees associated with the design of the facility.

And when government is involved, there is always the need to keep the issue in everybody's sights.

You can be sure more than a few people made sure that a new library in Mount Olive stayed a promise kept and did not become a promise forgotten.

And now, there is a bright, shiny new library ready to open its doors to open house guests this afternoon.

They will marvel at the new equipment and enjoy refreshments and a chat or two with a neighbor. Maybe a few of them might even take a peek at one of the books in advance of Monday's grand opening.

But as they stand there and see the public officials and others who will most assuredly gather to take part in such a momentous occasion, they should remember that those were not the people who made this project happen -- although there were more than a few who helped it along.

This library came to be because of the people of this community.

It is a testament to what can be done when citizens refuse to let bureaucracy and naysayers get in the way.

And it is an example for the rest of us of what can happen when a community refuses to take "no" for an answer.

Published in Editorials on July 19, 2014 11:54 PM