Joe Pyrah

Sen. Howard Stephenson draws the line at Love Your Library Week.

The Republican from Draper was the sole vote on Wednesday -- and the only opposition from either house of the Legislature -- against a resolution setting aside a week in April to focus on libraries.

Take heart that Stephenson doesn't hate books. What he hates is spending taxpayer dollars. "It's not a cheap thing to run a resolution," he said.

For any type of legislation, attorneys and staff from the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel have to work on it, including drafting specific language. Those hours are expensive, Stephenson said.

Four or five years ago, there was a concerted effort to cut back on resolutions, but now they seem to be creeping back into the system, he said. "That's not our business up here."

Honoring a person, place or thing should be left to the Governor's Office, which can issue a proclamation, he said.

And it's not as if libraries were being ignored in the state. Cities like Provo and Orem have seen massive increases in usage and are constantly expanding their services. Plus, there's always National Library week, which has been around for 50 years and runs April 13-19.

Almost as an afterthought Wednesday, someone reminded Stephenson that it takes numerous reams of paper to make enough copies of resolutions for committee meetings, multiple hearings in each house and versions for the Governor's Office.

"That's right," he says, a smile creeping across his face. "I'm doing it for the Earth."