If change is best, officials need to sell it

Columbia County commissioners on Tuesday are expected to get an earful from patrons of the Euchee Creek Library.

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As noted in today's story by News Editor Donnie Fetter, those patrons are upset that the library's supervisor, John Welch, is being replaced.

The county's library manager, Mary-Lin Maner, wants to have Welch swap places with main library reference librarian Keisha Evans, who unlike Welch holds a master's degree in library science.

Clearly it's an emotional issue for the patrons, because Welch has been the only supervisor the Euchee Creek Library has had since it opened in 1994. For those customers, Welch's greatest qualification is simply that they like him.

There's no emotion, however, in the move to replace him. County officials want someone with a higher level of education in place for the second-busiest library in one of the faster-growing areas of the county.

Without a doubt, it's a tough place to tread. County officials likely would receive zero complaints by merely letting the status quo rule. Rarely does anyone complain about a lack of change.

But taxpayers hired them to look out for the best interests of the county now and into the future, even if that means wading into controversy. If they believe replacing Welch is the best way to do that, the burden is on them to prove that the change is for the better - and to sell that change to patrons reluctant to buy it.