by Kat Latham
My father was laid off when I was 11. My mom had recently quit her job to train as a teacher.
Being a worrisome child, my first fear was that we’d lose our home. Mom reassured me that wouldn’t happen. My second fear was that I wouldn’t be able to buy books anymore. Mom said, “Honey, I’ll always buy you whatever books you want.”
I’m not sure whether she underestimated my voracious appetite for stories, or how long Dad would be unemployed, but we soon started frequenting the library instead of the bookstore.
The library in our town was tiny. It didn’t have much of a young adult section, and I was always worried I’d get yelled at if I spoke out loud. It wasn’t my favorite place to be, but it was my main connection to stories that helped me escape the toughest years of my life for a few hours at a time.
Over the last year, there’s been a lot of talk in the UK—as I know there has been in the U.S. and other countries—about saving public money by closing libraries. The arguments in favor of this seem beyond daft to me. How can you quantify all that we’d lose if we lost libraries?
On Sunday, London’s Observer Magazine printed this fantastic article about all the ways libraries and librarians serve their communities. It says, “The great untold truth of libraries is that people need them not because they’re about study and solitude, but because they’re about connection.”
I see this several times a week at London’s Barbican Library, where I spend my lunch hour writing. Part of an arts center that’s home to the London Symphony Orchestra and also has a cinema and theater, the Barbican Library is far more than the sleepy seaside library of my childhood.
In fact, watching people connect at the Barbican Library is sometimes much more interesting than the scene I’m writing. There’s often a large group of women knitting at the library. They look like they cover every age between 25 and 85. This isn’t a silent library, so they chat as they knit, and their creations are spread on the table between them.
I once saw an elderly man approach them, smiling. He said he loved seeing them there every week; it made him happy. They invited him to sit and talk for a while. Perhaps this won’t seem strange to many of you, but in London I find it’s very unusual for strangers to strike up a conversation with each other. It’s far safer to pretend you’re alone in this city, which can only make it a very lonely place, especially for people who don’t have jobs or families.
The article recognizes how vital stories—especially happy stories and romances—are for people whose lives are difficult. One of the librarians talks about taking a mobile library to deprived areas of London, and chatting with people about what kind of romance novels they liked. He said, “Those books are almost a form of medication; I reckon we save the NHS [National Health Service] a fortune in antidepressants.”
Last week I was in Sarajevo. I walked past the old Sarajevo library, which was shelled during the Balkans conflict. Over a million books were burnt to ash, but much more than that was lost when the library was destroyed.
Nearly 20 years later, the building is covered in scaffolding. I don’t know what library services Sarajevans have access to now, but I discovered this New York Times article from 1996, less than a year after the end of the siege. It contains a quote from Enes Kujundzic, the library’s director, which seems applicable to countries emerging from all kinds of catastrophes—whether war or economic depression.
Responding to people who thought the country had bigger priorities for reconstruction, he said, “People forget that this country can’t be rebuilt without resources of science and technology. People say you are a cultural institution. I say we’re also an educational and scientific institution that has to help this country compete.”
And how many of us live in countries that no longer want to compete?
What do libraries mean to you? What connections have they helped you make—whether they connected you with people, new authors, or ideas? With so much information moving online, do you think libraries are a waste of public money, or are they still as vital for communities as they’ve ever been? Comment and enter to win Rachel Gibson’s ANY MAN OF MINE (I loved this book!!!)
Katrina Crew, writing as Kat Latham
A blog for romance writers and readers: http://readericreatedhim.wordpress.com
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/katrinalatham
I work in IT for a public library, and we are so much more than a repository for books (although we are that, too). We do our best to be a center for learning and connections in our community. We show free movies on Tuesdays with our big wall screen and projector with free popcorn. We provide special concerts of children’s musicians, interactive puppet shows, experiences to meet creepy and strange creatures, etc. Of course there is storytime for the kids! We run dozens of free classes each month to teach patrons how to use Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, etc, and how to use websites like Facebook, how to start a blog, how to use a digital camera, how to build a budget, how to get ready for a natural disaster, and more. We have free crafting classes, a knitting club, a writing club, a book club, a teen video gaming club, a board game club… I could go on!
Anyway, I really believe that libraries are a lot more in a community than just a place to go and check out books and read magazines, and are a very valuable public service. 🙂
As a child I spent hours upon hours at the local library devouring everthing I could get my hands on. Like Kat my family was not in a position to buy me all that I read and the library was a wonderful substitute. I can’t imagine a time that those of us with a thirst for knowledge and learning (or even the desire to escape into new and exciting worlds) would be denied the opportunity to fill that need based on our socio-economic standing.
OH No libraries are certainly not a waste of money. It is a quiet place to go and let your imagination fly. Our library has a coffee shop attached to it and it is much better then the big box stores. I love the story hours and the community one book clubs.
Love & Hugs,
Pam
As a pre-teen and later teenager, I spent lots of time in the school library and the public library. In my community, we were lucky having both a city library with assorted branches around town and a county library system, also with branches around the county. Both the city and county branches were within walking distance of my house. That was before I had a driver’s license and walking or the bus was the only form of transportation.
I don’t visit libraries anymore like I used to and I’m not alone in that. In fact, I’ve been in NC for over 10 years and it was only this year that I got a library card and that was only because I needed access to their public computers. Had to have a card to use one. I can’t be alone in that so few people are getting or using their library cards in this electronic age. That’s probably why libraries are failing…because of the internet and the ease of obtaining books to one’s computer or other ereader or in the mail box if you want the actual book-in-hand! Money spent on books is always money well-spent IMO. While I understand the need to cut expenses, I think cities and counties would do well to invest in the internet by expanding their e-library capabilities. That’s probably where the future of the library lies.
Ever since I was very young I was an avid reader. I remember very clearly when I obtained my first library card and rode my bike over to the library several times a week to select books. My first reading experience and total enjoyment was when I devoured the entire Anne of Green Gables series and this was in hardcover since nothing else existed at that time. This was an outing which I looked forward to each and every time as though it was a special trip to a far away land. It has never lost its lustre for me and I still go to the library several times a week and borrow books, DVD’s and browse through the shelves. Having library access for me is a must since it allows me the priviledge of enjoying books that are available and knowing that this special place still provides so much for young and old alike. I see the mothers and children who enjoy the programs and the public using the computers and reading the periodicals. Libraries are everything that is necessary in our world since language, love of literature and reading is meaningful and necessary.
The library was so valuable for me when I was growing up. Especially as a preteen and young teen when I lived in a very small town with not much to do for youth, but where they had a small but excellent library. I would go there almost every day in the summer. Though my parents had plenty of classic books at home, they weren’t always what I wanted to read. Libraries mean so much to me that I went into library science as a career.
I love to go to a bookstore or library and just browse. Our town’s library is more than just books-it has audio books, tapes, DVD’s, computers, displays of historical happenings, maps and globes, music and the dailynewspaper. It also has workshops and is a meeting place for groups. I donate all of the books I read to our library because when I could not afford to buy my own books, I appreciated that the library had a good selection of books I liked to read.
As a child growing up on a ranch in Colorado, we went into town and checked out books from the small library. What a treat and I so looked forward to reading.
My town’s library is not closing so thankful for that.
I loved the library in my hometown before they built a newer bigger one. What was nice about the old brick building was because it was so cozy and inviting for you to find a windowsill to sit in and spend hours reading. Our librarians at the time actually encouraged conversations! And most of the time, they would be yapping away, laughing – it was a really fun place, one where I probably spent more time than anywhere else when I was a kid. Then when my boys were little they decided to make a bigger more spacious library that lost all that specialness as it seemed more institutionalized, new librarians who went to the school of “SHHHH”, and books that they no longer thought were adaquate were sold – so there wasn’t more books, just different books…where newspapers and magazines used to just be thrown on a large table and you could flip through without having to get up now they were all hung neatly in magazine and newspaper racks making it more uncomfortable to hang around reading while you are there. Now with budget cuts all the time and because of the debt the town took on building the new building each year there is less and less and the library is struggling to provide readers with enough ‘new’ material to read and cutting back on hours so that it makes it harder for people to get there for the few hours a week they are open – so eventually people stop going…a shame.
When my sister and I were youngsters and would stay the summers with our grandparents on the farm we got to go to town once a week…grandma would buy groceries for the week and grandpa would go to the feed store and we got to go to the library…what fun…I still think of a book I read there about trees but can’t remember the name of it…I’ve often wondered if that library still has that little book..it had made such an impression on me. Libraries are an absolute must for a community to have. One never knows how much they influence their lives until they’ve grown older.
I’ve had my own library card since I was 5 years old. My Mom was a big believer in reading and encouraged me from little on. We went at least once a week probably throughout my whole childhood and more frequently in the summertime for library reading programs. I had such an appetite for books that the library was the only way to fill it since we couldn’t have afforded to buy the thousands of books that I’ve probably read. In Middle School and High School, I volunteered at the library with their summer programs and even worked on my Girl Scout Gold Award project with them. When I went off to college, I got a job at the University Library in Special Collections (because I refused to work in a cafeteria). Before every school break, I’d go on my Library’s website and pick out some books for them to put on hold for me. The minute I got into town, I stopped to chat with the librarians and pick up my books. To this day, I still stop by to catch up whenever I’m visiting with my parents. They’ve known me for 22 years and care about what’s going on in my life. The first thing I do (sometimes literally – as in before my furniture arrives) when I move to a new city is get a library card. It opens the door to all kinds of possibilities. [I actually ended up getting my Masters of Science in Information – the fancy term for a Library degree! 🙂 Though not technically a Librarian, I am an Archivist, which is closely related.]
Libraries will never be a waste of money. I love browsing the shelves and checking out books. There is a such a calming atmosphere in a library.
I read several books a week and I cannot imagine how much money I would have had to spend over the years in order to purchase all of these books! The library has also allowed me to find new authors and try new genres. When my children were young we would make weekly (at least) trips to the library and I can say now that the experience of walking the aisles and choosing their own books was very influential. Both of my daughters, in their teens now, still love to read and still get a kick out of going to the library and wandering among the stacks.
Great blog Kat, I love libraries, as a kid, I went every sat afternoon, to just hang and read. Then I would go for a cola float at the nearby diner. Still go to the library. Alas, no cola floats unless I make one myself~
I love my library. They will order any book I want. They are great for audiobooks and dvds, too.
I love my library and I still use it regularly. I also donate books–both for sale through the Library Friends organization, and to the library catalogue itself. My college-age kid depends on it for research and I have many friends who attend story-time with kids and grandkids.
As a child, I thought our plain, small-town library was a magical place. It offered me so many creative opportunities. When my kids were in elementary school, my favorite place as a school volunteer was in the library. I hope there will always be support for public libraries. There’s just no substitute for what they offer.
Libraries have always been important to me. I give them a great deal of the credit for the fact that I grew up extremely poor yet went on to go to graduate school. In fact, library school. 🙂 I have very few memories of my childhood, having spent as little time as possible actually present for it, but I remember every library in every one of the hundreds of places I lived as a child, although the memories of schools are mostly horrified blurs. Being the new kid in school was a nightmare, but you never had to worry about a new library. Each one was different but they were all wonderful.
I’ll admit I don’t use my library much anymore, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think it is a valuable resource. When I was a kid I practically lived there since I didn’t have any money to buy books. I’d hate to think of kids today (and adults also) without the resources to buy books being deprived. That would just widen the gulf between haves and have nots in this country.
I’ve used the library since I was a kid. Whenever I move to some place new, I check out the local library and get a library card. Right now, I still borrow more books from the library than I buy.
I started going to the library when I was young and still go each week to this day. The thing I notice about the library is how busy it is all the time. For one thing there are computers available for people who don’t have one at home so there are always a lot of people on the computers or waiting to use them. Then there are the kids programs and of course there are books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, newspapers and books on tape. You never know what amazing book you might find there.
Thank goodness for public libraries. When I was a child we made our weekly trip (I wish we were within walking distance) in the summer and took out as many books as were allowed. My parents went through the depressioin so buying books were a luxury. When I had my two girls we had a bookmobile that we drove to and we too would take out the maximum amount of books. But I also made sure they had their own too. More than anything else I buy books but I still appreciate libraries. Luckily the internet and ebooks make it easier for some but we should never forget that there are people and times that the library is there only connection to learning, reading, enjoying books.
I think we still need libraries. There is a lot more technology out there that is making print more expensive and not as necessary, but I still feel like we need actual books and not just electronic books. Libraries give people the opportunity to find new authors and give them interaction with other people and new genres.
I think that libraries are an aboluste must. I can remember going several times a week as a child and then in my college years. Hadn’t been there in a while, but got another library card last year. They are wonderful to go to for reference or just the pure joy of reading without having to purchase books one can’t afford. The librarians are also very helpful, and they have all kinds of activities there, plus audios and dvd’s.
I think libraries are as vital as they’ve ever been. They are changing with the times, with DVD’s, CD’s, even graphic novels, as well as the use of computers, study space, research materials and meeting rooms – they are an important resource for a community. Our library will even take orders online and deliver the books to your home – which would be so wonderful for someone who’s a shut in and can’t get to the library (or the bookstore). For lower income families, the library is their only resource for many of those items, including books.
When I was young, the highlight of my week was to go to the library and load up on books. I still visit occasionally, but since I have so many books of my own, I don’t usually get books to read from the library any more. That is because I can afford to buy books, and if I couldn’t, you better believe I’d be at that library every week.
I think libraries are so important. Not just for the communities that they serve, but for publishing and authors as well. I can’t tell you how many times I have grabbed a book on a whim (Carrie Vaughn, Eloisa James) or because it was much discussed (Blue Eyed Devil, Magic Burns) only to fall in love with it. Those are books I never would have paid for, but that I am so glad that I got to read and those are authors whose careers I will follow.
I love libraries! I loved them when I was young and I still do! The internet can never be the same as browsing the books, the friendly people I’ve met in libraries, and the cozy atmosphere! 🙂
Thanks for another great giveaway, this book looks so good!
I love libraries! (though I am biased. I just like books anyplace 😉 ) They fed my reading addiction when I was younger 🙂
I think libraries are wonderful places. I go there to look for books or books on CD. they also have internet access and you can online there for free. I was introduced to the joy of reading by libraries and so were my own children. I hope they are there for ever.
I love my local library so much that I am on the board for The Friends of the Library!
Until last year, I was the children’s librarian at a small county library. When I was hired, a friend was the director. She took a building with books and turned it into a viable part of the community. One of the previous children’s librarians did not like children very much and discouraged their use of the library. I had a mom bring her school child in to work on a report and she told me it was the first time she had been there since she was 10. That librarian had told her to leave because “her type” wasn’t wanted there. The library was averaging only about 20 patrons a day, which is ridiculous. During my friend’s 10 years as director, the library became what a good library should be, a active part of the community. Children’s programs expanded, we started delivery of books to residents of nursing homes and shut-ins. People met friends, had meeting, and came in to just sit and read. The library was involved in community programs and projects. The atmosphere was friendly and welcoming. The daily patronage climbed to 150 to 200. When she retired, things changed in short order. Programs were cut back and the facility “sterilized” – no decorations or plants. It was a place of “business” not to be cluttered by stuffed animals or posters. Needless to say, patron numbers are way down and it is quiet as a tomb when you go in there now. Many of the regulars don’t go there anymore. It is back to being a building for books. A library should be so much more than that.
I lived at the library when I was a kid. There wasn’t anything extra for books in our family and I loved to read. It was a refuge and a haven. It was a place to explore the world and look into other people’s lives. Today many libraries have become community centers of a sort and why not. They are a wonderful resource in hard times, offering people a place to relax, enjoy books, movies, and CD’s and access the internet. You have the resources to write a resume, research jobs, check out careers and schools. Of all the things a community can make available to its residents, a library is one of the most valuable to all age groups and interests. I have never understood why when budgets are cut in schools and communities, the arts and libraries are first to be cut and sports programs and facilities never take as big a hit. More people can and will use the library than will use the ball field.
So get out there and support your local library. Join the Friends of The Library or whatever other group support it. Donate and buy books for/at their book sales. Support their programs. Make sure the local government gives it the funding it needs. Volunteer, every library I know of could use some help with shelving, book maintenance, and programs. Librarians, especially those in small local libraries are poorly paid. Let them know they are appreciated.
I still spend at least an hour every time I go to the library. Digging in the stacks for new authors just makes me feel good. Being with people who are just as intent on reading and expanding their intellect is an added perk. I know all the librarians by name and they’re so helpful. It’s still that one place I can go and know that I will connect with the people around me. Every where you go, there are people texting or listening to their ipods or talking on their cell phones. At the library, it hasn’t gotten like that. Sure, maybe when I was in college there was still the occasional text, but it wasn’t constant. The people weren’t glued to their screens. They were reading texts, writing papers and digging for reference materials. They were interacting in study groups and asking for assistance from their peers and educators alike.
It’s a bonding experience, as much as it is a place for you to be by yourself. Discovering yourself and your interests while opening your mind to the people and experiences around you.
I’m sure people are still saying – “it’s just a library. You can’t talk!”
But I’d have to say that you’d be surprised by how much you can communicate or tell about a person by stopping and observing. By reading, by studying. It’s an all around experience, a face to face or face to book, connection that stretches throughout the building itself.
Simplistically speaking, it’s awesome 🙂
What a great post. I’ll never forget the tiny library in my hometown or the wonderful librarian who taught me I could explore a whole new world right there…until I could leave to see it myself.
Stuff I’ve done at libraries:
Attended my critique group
Discovered new authors I love
Found new music
Found out of print books by authors I love
Gone to holiday parties
Played computer games
Taken fencing lessons
Research
Writing
Are libraries vital parts of their community? Heck yeah!!
I love libraries! I can not begin to quess how many books I have read from my libraries during my adult years alone. I would have gone crazy when I was on bed rest with blood clots if not for the books that my family members would pick up for me at the library. They are such an important part of the community and definately vital!
I think libraries are very important. I don’t go to them much anymore but sometimes get books for the bookmobile from the library. A few years back when I was taking some courses at a local college I had to do a research paper, and I am not sure what I would have done without the library for this research. I really got a lot of informations there.
I’ve had a library card since the first grade. I visit the library to borrow books every other week. I agree that libraries offer more than books. They offer various series and it’s a place you can sit down for some quiet time to read the papers or use the computer.
This post really does touch a hard debated subject for me. I remember my very first trip to the public library. It was at the central library in Brooklyn, which any brooklyn-nite knows, is a huge library. I remember walking around through all the shelves and looking at all the books. I took out 3 books that day. It was like a new haven for me. They held events for the children and open up my eyes to the possibilities and excitement of learning. Years later, in high school, I took a job at the public library. It was there that I learned that the library was not just a place to read books or check out books but a place in which people in the community can discover different things. It definitely broaden my horizons. Just recently, I’ve learned that the libraries weren’t buying any new books due to a lack of funding. They have also cut back on a lot of programs. It is really disheartening because I know that my love of reading heightened from my first trip to that Brooklyn library. I just imagine a world without a library. I still go in the library and stay for an hour or two, browsing the shelves and discovering new authors and things. Granted, the world in which we live in is technologically growing and ebooks and the internet are becoming more popular as the days go by, but we shouldn’t ever forget that joy and discoveries that we have found in the libraries. I know I won’t 😉
I think libraries are still very useful since not only can you get books for your enjoyment but if are doing research on something then it really helps you out.
I love our library and couldn’t imagine what my life would be like without it. We’ve been hit hard by the current economy and have had to cut back on shopping, eating out, movies or plays, trips! My 2 teenage daughters and I go to the library every week and come home with armfuls of books! It’s my escape from reality. I can forget about my problems for a while and enter a wonderful world where there’s always a happy ending. And even if we were back on our feet, I really couldn’t afford to buy all the books that we read every month! I think the library is one of the best kept secrets in the world.
Libraries are awesome. I’ve been visiting one, every week for the last 20 years. It’s usually on a tuesday, and the whole week I’m looking forward to it. I have a chat with the ladies that work there, search for a new story, advice other people on what to get….. It’s such a great place to get in touch with others and to share your passion. Can’t live without really.