Almost everyone over the age of 50 remembers the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature and due dates stamped on a strip of paper glued inside the front cover of Public Library books. If your community was lucky enough to have a library perhaps you spent rainy days there reading in a nook or bussed there for school field trips. My only access to an encyclopedia was through the local library so I give it credit for supporting my academic success. Today many kids would give that credit to the Internet. Talk to them about a reading nook and they'll think of an e-reader with that brand name. How does the increasing digitization of our world impact the usefullness of our libraries?
As an advocate for the library, I've been asked that question increasingly in recent years. I hear the question from friends who are plugged in digitally and believe that Google is as good as any library. I hear it from friends who don't read much anymore or buy all their books. It's understandable to wonder how libraries fit into our digital world and, increasingly, our communities are putting libraries to the test. The best way to know how libraries are useful today is to walk into one. Look around. Look at the people there. Libraries are more useful than ever. Here are three reasons why.
1) Libraries are safe afterschool destinations that promote academic success for all children and students. They provide much needed computer access and homework help to our nation's 14.7 million children in families fighting poverty. As an adjunct to public school systems, many of today's libraries offer academic support programs such as: SAT prep, reading challenges, organized teen programs, summer reading programs, and seminars on mining credible online information. These critical support programs improve academic success and ensure that children of all economic circumstances can reach their potential.
2) Libraries even the playing field for poor and unemployed adults. My public library has one entire floor devoted to computers. Those 400 computers are busy all the time providing a way for low income or struggling families to connect to stay involved with the digital world and connect with potential employers or financial assistance. Everyday libraries offer job seeking skills to 300,000 people. In fact, libraries provide more than 4 times the career assistance than Department of Labor does at their centers for the unemployed- One Stop Career Centers.
3) Libraries serve as our community gathering points. Where else than a library can we safely meet family, friends, and people we aren't familar with----for free! Across America libraries anchor our neighborhoods, promote cultural understanding, and champion free access to information. The digital society hasn't discouraged library use it has fueled the need for libraries. Two thirds of America carries a library card. Maybe you have one too. Whether you're using the library right now or not it's always open to you.
I'm writing this blog because as our communities begin to talk about the important national elections many will also, more quietly, be deliberating the fate of their local library. For most of our lives we've been able to take access to our public libraries for granted but the technological revolution, the digital revolution, and widening economic gaps have also created gaps in understanding how important the library is today. Now, dramatic cuts in local revenue are threatening the health of our libraries and they rely on informed voters to ensure their future.
Libraries are no longer the card catalog and hard bound books of our youth they're all that and much more. Experts in information management, our librarians and libraries are poised to help us navigate our increasingly complicated world. For the growing many who can't afford technology they're a lifeline to resources, for our communities they serve as gathering places, and for our children they ensure the promise of America--that every child can achieve their potential. Please vote yes for libraries.
Update October 2012 Though some results from tests to library funding are coming in now, such as Seattle's majority support for a levy to restore library services and bolster collections, uncertainty about funding continues to be a national challenge as very recent research from the American Library Association substantiates.
Update December 2013 This new Pew Research Survey shows that 90% of the public perceives the closure of a local library as a major impact on their community.
Update April 2014 Short and Interesting article written by a New York Subway rider on the evolution of reading on the "Rolling Library."
Update November 2014 Take the Pew Research Library User Quiz!
Update 3 January 2015 Interesting article about BiblioTech and the transformation libraries are going through to continue being broadly relevant and financially able.
