In our latest letters installment, some listeners focus more on what we left out than what we reported and others offer their ideas on the duties of citizenship. New Hampshire Public Radio’s Jon Greenberg has more.
The presidential primary has not only gotten off to a quick start, but there are many, many candidates on both sides. Carla Bonder objected to how one of our hosts summarized the daily schedule of which candidates would be where.
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Our discussion of All Terrain Vehicle, or ATV trails, disappointed Max McLane of Andover, Massachusetts.
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The topic that generated the most feedback was the future of that venerable New England tradition, town meeting. We received several comments along the lines of this from Miles Moriarty in Dover.
"People are actually saying, “no thanks, it isn’t worth the effort to get up one day a year and go vote for the policies, budgets, and people that are going to effect my community for the next year.
I understand that people lack the time to fully participate. I understand that it can be difficult to get and maintain the information necessary to make an informed decision. I know that some people feel intimidated, or don’t believe that their vote will matter, or that their vote will even be counted. But, I believe that a citizens vote isn’t a right that comes without responsibility, and that the benefits of being a citizen of the United States carry the responsibility of participation."
Lastly, when the Front Porch took up the question of how libraries are adapting, or in some cases, failing to adapt, to the digital age, Leo Cotnoir of Manchester emailed us:
“The Internet is rapidly making the concept of the library as a bricks-and-mortar institution obsolete. But it is not difficult to see why libraries are in trouble in the information age when the Web developer at the UNH library cites toys for children and help with prom makeup as reasons why they are still relevant. To survive, community and University libraries must evolve into portals to the vast amount of information available on the web.â€
But Cotnoir added, “Incidentally, I think it was a very interesting program. While I am somewhat picking on the guest librarian, I think she made some good points even if her examples were specious."
We trust that your thoughts and comments will always be relevant and never specious. There are several ways to reach us. You can email an individual program. You can use our listener line. The number is 603-223-2473. That’s 603-223-2473. Or you can go to our web site, NHPR.org and click on the link that says Contact NHPR. And if you do contact us online, please tell us your town and how to pronounce your name.
I’m Jon Greenberg.
