Libraries could become the new "village green" of the future, and are becoming a cultural center destination in communities, former Pennsylvania first lady Michele Ridge told a crowd of several hundred gathered for the dedication of the new William H. and Marion C. Alexander Library in Hummelstown Tuesday afternoon.

Ridge, a former librarian and executive director of the Erie County Library System, recited a litany of reasons libraries will remain important in communities, even as people rely increasingly on Internet sources for information.

"The more technologically complex we become, the more isolated and fragmented we become as a society, the more necessary it is to support community institutions that remind us of a community and keep us connected to each other," such as libraries, Ridge said.

Libraries are a place to do homework, help senior citizens and the unemployed in job searches, and “level the playing field” for the less advantaged who can’t afford books or computers, she said. During the years her husband, Tom Ridge, was governor, state library funding increased steadily. Michele Ridge said the responsibility to support libraries "starts at the local level," and said the Dauphin County Library System understands how to maintain and expand libraries in this challenging economic environment [read more at pennlive.com]