The smiling face to the right on today's Op-Ed page is surely familiar to a lot of Keyser residents, as Connie Sutton is an institution in the community, the energetic, enthusiastic director of the Keyser Public Library.
A couple of weeks ago, Connie reached out to us and asked about writing a weekly column. We immediately dropped the phone and rolled the red carpet all the way down Armstrong Street, hanging a right onto Main, and pulling it through the double glass doors of the columned hall where reside books, knowledge and fun.
"Yes!" we told Connie, we'd love to have a column.
As with her first piece, Connie's second Off the Shelf column takes readers on a tour of the library's weekly offerings, detailing the latest new book arrivals, community efforts like flower planting, and a handsome display cabinet contributed by the civic-minded Donna Jennings Garman and her husband Charles Garman.
It's all there to read for yourself, and we hope you do, every week. A library is an inherently special place, and Connie puts her own bright-eyed brand on the Keyser branch.
We mention Off the Shelf not only to promote this lively new feature, but to invite others to write as well -- public officials, agency directors, civic club representatives.
The Op-Ed page appears every day on page three in The News-Tribune. Invariably, it is one of a newspaper's most popular pages, drawing readers into the timeless contest of ideas at the heart of any free society. As such, the page can be a valuable platform for sharing your organization’s news, as Connie does today.
And it doesn't have to be a regular feature. Once in a while is fine, or even once in a blue moon.
The same invitation is extended to individual readers, who are welcome to submit letters to the editor.
This is your page, your newspaper, your community. Stand up and be heard.
Unless you’re in the library, of course.