‘Scent of Fear’ at the Library

Re Dana Parsons’ column “Scent of Fear Sends Scribe to Library Seeking Answers” (Oct. 3): Dana Parsons’ humorous attempt at looking at the Santa Ana Library issue fell flat.

To him it may be a situation of levity, but to those directly involved, it’s mighty serious.

Maybe Mr. Parsons has never worked in an environment in which staff has been afraid to come to work the next day because of tension in the workplace.

The library staff and library board have been attempting to resolve this volatile situation for two years.

An axiom of sociology is that if someone perceives something to be real/true, then for them it is real/true, regardless of what others think.

I wonder if Mr. Parsons would have taken the same cavalier approach had the issue concerned another department--perhaps the police or even The Times. I think not.

Maybe next time when Mr. Parsons goes to the library, instead of checking out “The Mutants Are Coming,” he might check “An Introduction to Good Investigative Reporting,” a book that might offer a resolution to a pressing issue.

DON W. HAFFNER

Chairman,

Santa Ana Library Board