Editor:

Although I now reside elsewhere for various reasons, I am a native of Fairhope, born and (mostly) raised here. My family and I returned to my hometown after some years away when I was 7 years old, and the rest of them have never budged since. Consequently, I come home to Fairhope for periodic spiritually rejuvenating visits — or so I hope.

I come to breathe easy beside the bay, despite the signs requiring stickers to legally do so. I come to walk the familiar streets, despite the morphing of landmark cottages into characterless mini-mansions. I come to meander through the downtown, despite it no longer being a ‘real’ downtown with anything affordable or even necessary for common folk.

Despite all of the dubious changes that have turned my hometown into little more than flowers, frippery shops and exclusionary hot spots, I come to Fairhope not only because my family is still here but because I love it so; it is my place of memories. And one of my fondest has always been my dreamy afternoons after school in the public library. It was the old library on Summit then and I spent many happy hours reading in that comfortable place before walking the rest of the way home. It was my favorite place to be from the time I was 8; I was content there and I always felt welcomed.

Imagine then my disheartened surprise when I recently visited the brand new Fairhope Public Library, that grand building for a grand institution and spied the sign on the door that reads: All Children Welcome. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Since when did children under 12 become so suspect simply by virtue of their age that they cannot be trusted to come into a library on their own, to have unfettered access to books and all that books bring to a life? Children under 12 cannot feel welcomed in a library that excludes them without an accompanying adult! That makes time at the library subject to parents’ schedules. If I’d had to wait for my working mother to take me to the library way back when, I shudder to think that I would not have known books as I did and do. All children are not welcome if that is the rule; the sign is a lie as big as that new building.

I am as disappointed in my hometown as I have ever been, more so than with any other changes. I have never seen such a negating sign on another public library in all my travels. If our children cannot feel at home and truly welcomed in the place that should be ushering them in to partake of the adventure, creativity and knowledge found in books — whenever they want it and not only when their busy parents can accompany them — then Fairhope’s children already are not trusted and valued by their community. And Fairhope will suffer the consequences of that shortsightedness.

This is a town born of revolutionary thought; this is a town once renowned for its revolutionary school, its recognition of and appreciation for its children, its thoughtful approach to their learning. In my day, this was a town where kids roamed streets freely and played in town on bikes, skateboards or roller skates without fear of harassment, without signs telling us we were not worthy of such rights, that we were not “allowed.”

Once, Fairhope was a town where kids of any age were allowed in the library without parental supervision. Once, Fairhope librarians were able to welcome and happy to deal with children of all ages. I am grateful to have grown up in that Fairhope, and to only visit the Fairhope I see in action today. It seems the kids of today won’t have my happy memories to sustain a love for Fairhope; what will that mean for the Fairhope of tomorrow? Again, I shudder to think.