Why We Are Entering the Golden Age of Books—Fifth in a Series

America’s libraries bring community to communities

When I was on the board of our local public library in Delray Beach, Florida, we had to justify our campaign for a new library to potential donors who wondered whether libraries were relevant anymore. With the Web available to most people in their homes, was our old model of public libraries obsolete?

We would point out that easy Web access from home was not yet universal. All 15 Internet computers in our 50-year old library were nearly always in use and often had a queue of people waiting. At the same time, circulation of books, especially current fiction, continued to slowly climb. Plus, the library provided a safe, (relatively) quiet refuge staffed with helpful librarians.

Fortunately we won out, and due to the generosity of many private donors as well as the enlightened support of several governmental groups, Delray Beach now has a magnificent new public library. It boasts 55 public-access computers and a computer lab where free computer classes are held. The circulation of books and DVDs is up some 15%, while the number of library visits has more than doubled. The seats in front of all the new, flat-screen computers are nearly always occupied.

Happily, Delray Beach is not unusual but typical of thousands of American towns that enjoy wonderful public libraries. In neighboring Boca Raton, a new library was just finished, which you might well be amazed by. I certainly was.

I had similar “wow” experiences when I visited the libraries in Memphis, Tennessee, and Evanston, Illinois; in Wellesley and Newton, Massachusetts, and  Greenwich, Connecticut; and in California’s wine country. At the St. Helena Public Library in the Napa Valley, Lori and I perused rows upon rows of handsome binders containing wine labels—important reference books for wine makers designing new labels.

And I’m not even counting the deservedly famous metropolitan libraries in Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle.

More book than burgers…

Our country has thousands of small, humble libraries, too. Many of these are included in our national total of 16,543 (which, as the American Library Association likes to remind us, is more than the 13,727 McDonald’s). Nearly two-thirds of American adults have library cards. As a nation, we check out an average of more than 7 items per year for every citizen, totaling some 2 billion items.

For these benefits, we pay an average of $31 in taxes per year.

…but a small piece of the pie

When I travel, I make it a point to drop in at libraries, often to the exasperation of my family. But I find libraries superior to visitor centers. When it comes to information on their town, you can’t find a better source than the local librarians. In the scores of libraries I’ve visited, from Alaska to Arizona, I’ve also found free Internet access in every one, open stacks for browsing, and inviting places to sit and read.

The one limitation I notice most often is that all these benefits might be for naught, because the library is closed.

Most municipalities struggle to fund the operating budgets for their libraries.When cutbacks occur, hours of operation are what suffer first—evenings go, then Sundays. Librarians and their friends have to struggle heroically every year for their slice of the public pie.

Cradles of learning and liberty

In the early days of our country, private libraries vied with the public model. We still have a few of the private ones, including The Library Company of Philadelphia and the Boston Athenaeum, but the tax-supported free model won out. The role of the library in helping new Americans—young people, old people, entrepreneurs and dreamers—continues to this day. Thousands of authors have testified how encountering their local public library was a pivotal event in their lives, and countless books have been written under the protective canopy of library ceilings.

Public libraries are where tens of thousands of Americans go weekly to engage in book discussions groups, to see screenings of classic films, and to hear authors and scholars lead discussions of literature and ideas. Many libraries host museum-quality traveling exhibitions.

One of the best things about American libraries are the librarians who work there. They are trained to help in an efficient, nonjudgmental way—both with difficult research questions and odd “reader’s advisory” questions, such as “What should my little brother read next?”

Moreover, librarians view themselves as professional protectors of our First Amendment. They throw themselves in the path of would-be book burners, and also in the path of government policies that impinge on the privacy of citizens to read what they want without anyone keeping track.

Since we can’t help but take all good things for granted, only by going outside of the United States can we begin to understand that we live in Library El Dorado. That is the subject of my next post, where we’ll take a quirky trip around the world, stopping at a few libraries.

Meantime, let me hear your thoughts on American libraries. What is your experience?
Just click on the Comments link below. (If you’re reading this as an email, click here and you'll connect to Comments).

For more on all that America’s libraries do, read the report of the American Public Library’s Public Programs Office.

Comments

[Michele]

It was lovely hearing about your views on libraries. Our local library also got renovated a couple of years ago. Sadly the books in it didn't do so well. We have quite a collection of books here at home and have even been known to pick up a book we already have, and more than once.
I am also a fan of "Audible" books.

Yes, you are right that librarians are very helpful, they will always take the time to check out the weirder books that I like. My hobby and business is in Genealogy and I can tell you some of the books I've asked for have been very specific.

All the best
Michele
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

[Bill Baker]

Of interest to me, is so many elementary schools continue the tradition I can remember from childhood, (the 50's;) taking elementary children to reading time and introducing them to the World at Their Feet, through books. What disheartens me is the ongoing disconnect between this time honored education tradition and the reduced reinforcement by parents. This is evidence by the lack of growth of libraries. They have not maintained a proportional growth to the growth of our population.
Thank you for this wonderful topic, and may the Golden Age enter with an explosion!

[Jane Freed]

The public library in Moscow, Idaho is a vital resource to everyone in the community. I go there every Saturday to peruse the DVD collection, the new books, the travel books, and just wander around the stacks. There's no telling what you'll find just looking at all the interesting titles. The public computers are always full. Whole families come in to choose books and DVDs. It's a great place!

[Matthew Enos]

I agree with Steven that my home town, Evanston, Illinois, has an excellent public library. But as an educated community it also has many literate patrons. You aren't likely to find the title you want on the New Books shelves. I also patronize the public library in Plymouth, Indiana, a small community I frequently visit. The treasures available on their New Books shelves lead me to boast to my friends that I "own" a public library. All of which leads to my basic point: there are few pleasures that match holding in your hands a brand new hardcover edition of a book you are eager to read.

[Margaret Karlin]

I don't know what a URL is.
Anyway, West Hollywood CA is preparing to build a new library. This is a community of only 40,000 which swells to 250,000 on the weekend because of the clubs, billboards etc. all of (which before we cast judgement) help make this a rich little city which can now build a state of the art library to replace our little one.

[Cheryl]

I was reintroduced to public libraries when I returned to school several years ago. I was pleased to find many with "study rooms" with white boards and power outlets where my study team could get together and work. With expenses rising and wages lowering, I found it necessary to reduce monthly expenses. The Internet connection was the first to go. Fortunately, the closest library has about 25 computers, most in use, and the first 5 pages of printing free.

As I have no budget for purchasing books, I have found a wide range of books, periodicals, and other resources for my varied tastes including my favorite authors.
This library is open 7 days a week including 4 evenings which is very convenient. They encourage donations of DVDs and best sellers once you are finished with them as they are rented for a small fee. They also purchase new books and often there is a waiting list. They even send the book from another library for a small fee. They also have reading circles,Internet classes, and special interest seminars. We need libraries more than ever!

Thank you for your support!

[Eadain]

I love visiting our libraries. I have two kids under five and we share a library card. I read them three stories a night, which means that we take out a LOT of books. So much so, that I had to buy a portable shopping cart to carry them all lolol. The last town in which we lived, we were only allowed ten books at a time, per card. It was a small town. I am so glad we are back in civilization again-- which means unlimited check-outs!

My new favorite library thing is to borrow the audiobooks on cd. They offer mp3 downloads now, too, though I haven't tried them out as yet.

[Terri Canata]

I got my first library card 50 years ago when I was ten and I have had one ever since. My mother loved to read and taught us to appreciate the library. In fact when she retired, she spent 19 years as a library volunteer. I couldn't begin to guess how many books I have checked out through the years. But my best memories go back to the summers of my childhood, back in the days when my family had one car and my father took it to work everyday. My mother would walk with us kids about a mile and a half to the general store/post office where the book mobile from the local library would make a weekly stop bringing the library to us. Mom would let each of us have an ice cream while we waited for the truck to arrive and always made sure we rinsed and dried our hands before touched anything. We learned to be judicious in our choices. We had to carry whatever we chose back down that hot dusty road home and had to be satisfied for a whole week with whatever choice we made. (I have to admit, being the oldest, I often tried to influence my brother and sister to pick books that I wanted to read.) Books were our main source of entertainment. When my kids were growing up we lived in town and they went to the library regularly. We made books we read a main topic of dinnertime conversation. My daughter, now grown and an avid reader, does the same with her family. When my oldest granddaughter started reading the Harry Potter series I decided to read with her. This summer she and I read Fast Food Nation together. And coming full circle, my mother, now 85. lives with me because she is memory impaired. She can no longer retain a story line or factual information but we walk to the library together and she reads the newspaper or magazines, looks at announcements of local happenings, peruses the newest acquisitions and takes comfort in the familiarity of the quiet space, the leather chairs and the flat reading surfaces. The library is like a dear old friend; You know each other well enough that you don't need to have conversation. You just rest comfortably together.

[Sheri Sampson]

I fell in love with libraries early, in 3rd grade in school, when we were allowed to visit once a week. The last many years our town library was so limited as to hours, we gave up and began to buy books. Now I live in a wonderful community in north Georgia where the library is open every day. My husband and I love it and we go often. I would hate to be without a library.

[Susan Weston]

I live in a small town, Clinton, Arkansas and our library is small but offers so much. I have limited my usage to checking out novels. I can't imagine why so many people "buy" books when the local library has all of the best sellers. If they don't have a book, they will get it on loan from another library for you. My husband is always asking for a book about which he's learned from the New York Review of Books or from watching CSPAN or LINK TV. The librarians are always willing and able to assist him. Without the local library he would never consent to live here in rural Arkansas so that I can be near my family.

[Chip Dietrich]

I love to read and the first thing after getting my new state of Florida's driver's license was to get my cherished library card. The variety of resources and promptness of acquisition of new books is wonderful. My difficulty is getting my partner to enjoy reading. This lack of similarity in interest is a separator particularly in our use of "extra" time in our busy lives. Every moment away from reading or writing seems like wasted time until I can consume more of my favorite appetite for words. Thanks ever so much for your postings.

[Ruth Fisk]

I love libraries- once I learned to read I've always frequented them, starting when I was a kid and our smalltown PA town library was only open one day a week in summer. I'd go and stock up for the upcoming week. I've never been without a library card, throughout our moves from PA to IL to NY to finally MA, where we've lived for 30 yrs now. We can afford to buy books now, but still visit the library weekly- happy reading!

[Jean Farris]

I am blessed to live in a community-Springfield, MO-with truly outstanding libraries for a city of our size. In addition to "destination" branches, coffee shops, gift shops, computer services,community meeting rooms, audio and video in addition to books, one of my favorite features is their website. I can browse their stacks during my lunch hour, from my desk, and reserve books or other materials and have them held for pickup at my local branch. Which even has a driveup window!

[Lynn Merring]

I'm a librarian for a law firm - have been for 28 years. More than a decade ago there was concern that lawyers would no longer need us once they learned to use the internet. To the contrary - they need librarians more than ever to help them navigate the tsunami of information. I believe the same is true in public libraries.

USE your librarians - that's what they are there for!!

[Jeff Rosenberg]

I think you will like this story

Great Doug McNamara / Mumford Books article with library quotes!

http://www.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-08-10/story/mumford_library_books_is_a_book_lovers_paradise