mayim:
Just saw John’s request about legislative priorities.
I have one that I would live to see: increased support for IMLS [Institute for Museum.and Library Services]. It’s a small but vital part of the federal budget.
IMLS has been on the chopping block every year that Trump has been in office. Congress takes out the zero but the funding hasn’t kept up with costs.
And the need is huge! Especially now, in the library world. Local budgets cut, which means fewer early literacy services, decreased service for the blind/visually impaired* and homebound, less access to public computers for those without access at home <the digital divide is real and immense>, lack of programming budgets,, and much lower quality of life in many small towns as well as inner cities. Libraries are still hugely relevant!
That’s not even looking at infrastructure issues ~ many libraries and museums have major building issues: capacity, ability to adapt to modern technology, and lack of maintenance.
Disclaimer: I am a librarian at a state library, so we both directly fund programs and distribute funds to other libraries on the state. My position is state funded, except for some in-state travel that supports local library development.
I can go on at great length if any of the front pagers wants to write on the topic ~ it’s an area where a lit bit of public press might do a fair bit of good.
*The National Library Service [NLS] is the primary funder in 49 states for services to the blind, visually impaired, and those with physical issues [stroke, Parkinson’s] that make holding/using a book or tablet difficult. Amazing program with no cost to the patron.
Thanks for submitting your essay! (WG)
Lapassionara
I’m a big fan of the IMLS. Thanks for highlighting it.
Kent
One of the things I miss with Covid is just going to our local town library, sitting in the overstuffed chairs, and reading a stack of magazines. Which I used to do weekly when my kids had lessons and such. Breaks my heart to drive by it all these months and see it closed.
Pete Downunder
I’m a big fan of libraries and worked in the University library while a student. The experience scarred me for life – I still insist that at home my non-fiction is shelved by subject then by author and fiction by author. My wife thinks it’s a bit obsessive but I can put my hands on pretty much any book right away.
meander
Yes! Libraries are great. One of the things I miss most from the ‘before times’ is visiting a library in person, browsing books, looking for just the right book or article.
Slightly off-thread: the Japanese NHK World network just posted a new episode for the Japanology Plus series that is all about libraries in Japan — how they have evolved, and some unusual regional libraries. I haven’t watched it yet (tomorrow!), but I’m sure it will be good.
Pete Downunder
Libraries sure have changed, when I went to law school (in the late Jurassic) computers were 15 years at least away and the card catalog was literally cards. I was visiting our local law school library not long ago and not a book to be seen – just about everything was electronic. I asked the librarian if they still had actual books and she said yes pointed vaguely toward the basement.
zhena gogolia
Great piece, great idea.
Nicole
Yes to all of this post. My local library offers, not just computer access, but classes on computer literacy, too. I worry about some of the people I saw there regularly in the pre-Covid days, wondering if they’re managing to get online now.
StringOnAStick
I grew up in love with libraries. One summer I tore an eardrum in the pool, and we lived in a very hot part of the central valley of CA so I would ride my bike to the library, check out the maximum number of books, go read them then come back again. I finally just went shelf by shelf in the kids science section and read every book; they didn’t bother checking them out to me anymore because I’d come back in a few hours for the next batch.
I still love libraries and I miss not being able to just wander the stacks to see what catches my interest. Reading is one of life’s great pleasures.
Dan B
Seattle passed a bond issue a couple decades ago to build new libraries. They are mostly fantastic or, one is strange. The downtown library interior is amazing. And the services and programs were amazing. Having them back would be wonderful. They are an asset that is of enormous benefit to our community.
StringOnAStick
@StringOnAStick: I also love how some of the fairest, most concerned for the less fortunate and strong advocates for them are librarians!
Mousebumples
I ❤️ our local library, and i love that they’ve setup curbside book pickup even though the library itself has been closed for weeks/months at a time during the pandemic.
I also love the children’s lit department, since i can request a Grab Bag of X books for my Y age child. We have a ton of books in our home library but new ones are always fun!
Feathers
My mother worked in the Washington office of the American Library Association. They, of course, follow these appropriations closely. I remember my mother coming home having spent the day in a postal funding markup session.
They have a page for bills that they are looking for letters on. It looks like these are not updated for the new Congress yet, but if you want to lobby your congressional reps on library issues, this is the place to go for detailed information.
American Library Association Public Policy- Library Funding
ALA – Public Policy Includes links for copyright, net neutrality, and more.
ETA: Wow. Just looked around the page and there is a downloadable spreadsheet with all the reps, who is co-sponsoring, the appropriate staffer’s email, and the rep’s Twitter handle. Still last Congress, though.
Feathers
@Dan B: There was a steampunk festival in Waltham, Mass every year at the Museum of Industry. One year there was a literary track at the Waltham library. It was really cool to see everyone from around the country gawking at the library. Literally jaws dropped. Yeah, I explained, this is what libraries are like around here. Towns compete with each other over who has the nicest library. Made me appreciate it more.
FYI – if you are in the Boston area, the Winchester Public Library has an actual Tiffany stained glass window in the reference room.
ETA- in the after times, I would really like to go to the fancy afternoon tea they have at the Boston Public Library, but my friends haven’t been up for it. Maybe a mini meetup?
Benw
Sorry to be hyperbolic, but libraries are proof that a society has transcended to civilization.
Ken
Dewey Decimal, Library of Congress, or a brilliant system of your own devising that you’re in the final stages of polishing before releasing it to the plaudits of the world?
Ken
Plus they increase Science production by 50%.
Oh, sorry, small-c civilization.
citizen dave (aka mad citizen)
I love libraries and visit my local one nearly every Saturday. The used store within collects my money. My library has a nice foreign film section, and a great graphic novel collection. They now have unique crafting machines and free supplies in the basement, including a laser cutter. I got certified to use them.
Mary G
I was once, in pre-internet days, in one of those team building classes that the corporation liked to inflict upon its employees. Our team and another was neck and neck, we had a trivia question, nobody knew the answer to, and while pretending to be on a potty break, I called the reference desk at my local library, and came back with the answer. Libraries are more important than ever. I live on audiobooks I borrow through Overdrive.
BellyCat
@citizen dave (aka mad citizen): Brilliant! Where’s the library?
Son of a single-mom librarian, here. Lots of fond memories of sick-days spent amid the stacks.
The future of physical libraries, in a digital era, is not a trivial question. Maker spaces are a superb opportunity for libraries and communities, optimizing free access, knowledge, and resources to justify MORE library funding, not less.
Miss Bianca
@StringOnAStick: Librarians are also, for the most part, *fierce* civil libertarians. Even the right-wing ones of my acquaintance.
Don’t fuck with librarians.