My mother was a voracious reader and she turned me on to the public library at an early age. I loved going to the library and I quickly started reading books aimed well above my age group at around 10. I soon discovered book stores, where I would buy paperbacks (sports mostly) with my allowance. Some 50 years later, I find myself surrounded by books and am forever grateful to my mother for sharing her passion with me. Libraries are often the cultural centerpieces of small towns. They provide books, music, and safe havens for those who don't have much more than the desire to learn and, at least for bit, to escape their own day-to-day realities. Defund libraries is akin to defunding those dreams. Shameful!
Any time people talk about defunding or closing libraries, it enrages and saddens me. I love libraries for so many reasons. Those who want to cut them say they're doing so in the name of "saving taxpayers money" but all they really want to do is hurt those who are less fortunate and leave everyone with fewer education options
So true. The library was my safe place as well. I still go every couple of weeks. The feel of a book is very different for me than a kindle or whatever digital media one chooses. The wandering through the stacks brings the opportunity to find something you didn’t even know you were looking for.
Thank you for writing this. My family chose our current and previous homes in no small part due to being a short walk from a local library branch. My elementary-aged children love the library. I'm amazed at how many times I've talked with another grown adult who was amazed to hear about some resource at the library my family has used. We're fortunate we don't "need" the resources of the library the way others do, but it's so important for it to be there.
The importance of a "free at the point of use" third space for teens to be after school or get extra homework help in a safe place, for someone without other means to be able to use the internet to pay a bill or do medical research, or frankly even to escape the heat or cold for an hour, cannot be underestimated.
As always, sadly, the cruelty is the point. The library is not a business, it is a public good.
My mother was a voracious reader and she turned me on to the public library at an early age. I loved going to the library and I quickly started reading books aimed well above my age group at around 10. I soon discovered book stores, where I would buy paperbacks (sports mostly) with my allowance. Some 50 years later, I find myself surrounded by books and am forever grateful to my mother for sharing her passion with me. Libraries are often the cultural centerpieces of small towns. They provide books, music, and safe havens for those who don't have much more than the desire to learn and, at least for bit, to escape their own day-to-day realities. Defund libraries is akin to defunding those dreams. Shameful!
Any time people talk about defunding or closing libraries, it enrages and saddens me. I love libraries for so many reasons. Those who want to cut them say they're doing so in the name of "saving taxpayers money" but all they really want to do is hurt those who are less fortunate and leave everyone with fewer education options
So true. The library was my safe place as well. I still go every couple of weeks. The feel of a book is very different for me than a kindle or whatever digital media one chooses. The wandering through the stacks brings the opportunity to find something you didn’t even know you were looking for.
Thank you for writing this. My family chose our current and previous homes in no small part due to being a short walk from a local library branch. My elementary-aged children love the library. I'm amazed at how many times I've talked with another grown adult who was amazed to hear about some resource at the library my family has used. We're fortunate we don't "need" the resources of the library the way others do, but it's so important for it to be there.
The importance of a "free at the point of use" third space for teens to be after school or get extra homework help in a safe place, for someone without other means to be able to use the internet to pay a bill or do medical research, or frankly even to escape the heat or cold for an hour, cannot be underestimated.
As always, sadly, the cruelty is the point. The library is not a business, it is a public good.