As our readers know, we do not publish anonymous letters. On occasion, if we are convinced there is a good reason for it, we will withhold the name of a letter writer, but we must have that name. This is sometimes unfortunate as some writers who do not sign their names have legitimate issues to discuss. We received such a letter this week, questioning the current library budget on which residents will vote next week. Had we received the letter sooner we might have been able to investigate some of the questions raised. But, more importantly, is the fact that the library's board of trustees meetings are open to the public and that fact is posted in the library and in this newspaper's community calendar. That is the place to get answers to the kind of questions our anonymous letter writer asks. There is freedom of information for the public to learn about the actions of all public bodies. Very rarely does the public take advantage of it.

We believe the Manhasset Public Library, although in many ways inadequate for today's patrons, is a major asset to Manhasset. We rarely visit, and we visit frequently, that it is not a busy place and the patrons range from the pre-schoolers in the community room to the retirees in the reading room reading periodicals and newspapers. This is not even to mention the students of all ages using the library as a reference center for school assignments.

We believe the board has presented a budget that is reasonable and responsible. It was a difficult task, especially this year as the future of the library in Manhasset is an unknown quantity. Whatever will happen in the future is an unknown. The present is at hand. We urge a 'yes' vote on the budget.