In the 1997 inspections, cigarettes were bought by underage operatives in five of 31 locations checked. Three of the purchases were at vending machines. In 1994, more than 80 percent of the locations checked sold cigarettes to underage teens. So, local merchants are getting better at complying with the law against tobacco sales to those under 18 years of age, Watson said. We don't know if we're that good yet.
Preliminary work is now under way for a major strategic planning project.
The study is expected to take about a year to complete and will include input from library staff, members of the board of trustees and the community. The project will address future needs of the library, said Director Sybil Galer. Electronic formats now available present special problems for libraries, she noted. And with the proliferation of the Internet and E-books, you have to make changes to meet the public's needs. The library also must consider the people who can't afford or don't have the resources to access this information, Galer said.