Libraries are a growth industry here and that speaks well for local priorities.

Bristol recently increased funding for its Rogers Free Library. Warren still supports its gorgeous George Hail Library. Westport decided a few years to expand its library by over 40 percent. And on Saturday, Tiverton dedicated its new $10.6 million library, a facility that a Rhode Island library leader called “the crown jewel” of the state’s community public libraries.

This is truly cause for celebration as none of this has been easy in tight times. When state and towns start swinging the budget ax, libraries — which generally lack the clout of unions and lobbyists — make easy targets.

Whenever the topic of library funding arises, somebody is sure to question the need. With computers and internet, goes the argument, people can find most of what they need without leaving home.

But the truth is that, in some ways, we need libraries more than ever. Those who doubt this should stop by and see for themselves just how busy George Hail is, and how much it has to offer in addition to shelves and shelves of reading material. Libraries are still about books, but they are also much more.

Their computers are a resource for job searches and student research and they are a link to the outside world — especially for people who can no longer handle that $50-plus monthly Internet bill.

Their books (paper and digital), magazines, DVDs and more provide endless entertainment that fit any budget.

Especially through long, dark winters, the library provides a place for townspeople who might otherwise be hunkered down at home to maintain ties to neighbors and community. Their meeting rooms offer story hours for children, talks on everything from history to weight loss and a no-cost place for groups of all sorts to gather. In Warren, the library is a repository for priceless public history, a museum with amazing pieces saved from Warren’s past.

And libraries do it all with efficiency seldom found in municipal operations.

All towns provide schools, snow plowing, police and fire protection. But it could be argued that one of the best measures of any town’s ties to its citizens is the health of its library.

By that yardstick, the local library construction boom suggests that townspeople in this part of the state are well served.