mini note: show your library love
what's your favorite thing about the library?
It’s been about one billion degrees here recently (and in much of the country), making it a perfect day to visit the library. No one complains about free air conditioning, right? 🥵
Libraries are among the few remaining “third places” in our communities. Third place refers to a space where we spend time other than at home (the “first place”) and at work or school (the “second place”). Third places include coffee shops, gyms, parks, bars, churches, and more. However, unlike most third places, libraries are free and designed to serve everyone in the community regardless of income, ethnicity, religion, or any other characteristic.
Third places help build community by fostering conversation and connection among people from all walks of life. They create space to bridge differences, share ideas, learn from others, and engage with those who disagree or are different from us. That’s an important foundation of democracy!
And with our current weather, they provide air conditioning to people who don’t have their own at home to keep them cool and safe. That’s no small feat these days.
Libraries have so much to offer (way more than just books, even though that’s one of my favorite parts). They’re cornerstones of the community and provide access to information and resources otherwise out of reach for millions of people.
Sadly, libraries have been losing funding in many communities for years. They’re being attacked by people who don’t see the value in learning about different perspectives and becoming critical thinkers. If one doesn’t like what they see on library shelves, maybe just don’t check it out or… “don’t look at it.” 🤷🏻♀️The rest of us want to see the world through other people’s eyes sometimes.
Most of us respect that others have opinions we may not like. We want to teach our children to be critical thinkers and consider ideas beyond our preferred narrative. Libraries embody those values. We must support libraries and librarians to preserve their important place in democracy.
We can support our libraries in many ways, including:
valuing librarians
showing our municipal leaders that we want to keep libraries well-funded by using them, emailing to communicate our support, and voting for politicians who value libraries and freedom of information and speech
providing financial support through donations
connecting local business sponsors to the library
encouraging friends to use the library
teaching children to love the library
If you’re unsure how to use your library, check out some of these ways to make the most of the library in your community. And here are a few tips to avoid those pesky library fines.
I’d love to know how you use the library! Are you as much a library nerd as I am?
I’m a big fan of the library. Ever since I’ve started decluttering, I avoid buying physical books as much as possible. Whatever I can’t find at the library, I buy in e-book format. I’m retiring at the end of this week and I’m so excited to make more frequent trips to the library.
What I love most about libraries is the power of knowing everything that one day I would like to know about in one specific space, like learning a new language, reading historical books, cooking, gardening, and even building furniture.