For people who are sticklers for being on time, the board that oversees the Judge George W. Armstrong Library’s policies is long overdue for a review of those policies.

The library’s board of trustees decided to review some of the public library’s rules and policies only last week, despite months of public complaints about the difficulty of access and challenges facing library patrons.

It’s unfortunate that it has taken so long for this to come about. And it’s unfortunate that the library’s staff, whom we believe are well-intentioned, have been verbally attacked by library patrons.

The recent problems aren’t new, they’ve simply received more notice recently.

For years residents have complained about a lack of after-hours access to the library, rigid rules and other annoyances.

Some of the problems can be fixed instantly. Library patrons have complained about having to use the Internet standing up.

The solution is as simple as finding a stool.

Other problems may require changes in habits and practices at the facility.

We realize that the library is understaffed and underfunded, but it seems to us that a great need exists for some way to keep the library open later — even if it were just one night per week.

Currently, library access for most working folks — and many students — is limited by daytime-only hours.

Wouldn’t it work to simply have the library staff open the doors a bit later in the day to allow them to stay open after hours?

Many of the other &uot;problems&uot; can likely be explained away with a little bit of communication and public awareness on why the rules were created in the first place.

The library holds vast amounts of knowledge and should be an almost sacred place of learning and study.

We hope the efforts of the library’s board of trustees helps make that ideal become a reality and soon before the community’s patience expires.