By Shari Randall
In all the years I worked in a public library, there was
only one time a patron became angry with me.
A few minutes before closing, a man hurried into the branch.
He needed materials to prepare for a test. Because English wasn’t his first
language, it took a few minutes to figure out what he needed but soon we were
in the stacks and I handed him the books he requested.
“Where do I pay?” he said.
“It’s free, all you need is a library card.” Usually this
line was met with happy surprise.
Not this guy. His face reddened. “No, it can’t be. You’re
joking with me.”
I shook my head. “Let me show you where you apply for a
library card.”
“No, I have money! No credit card!” he shouted.
After some conversation, he understood. As I helped him get
his card, the man apologized profusely.
“In my country,” he said, “there are no libraries, just
bookstores. Only rich people have books.”
His words have stuck with me because he opened my eyes.
There are places where only rich people have books.
I never thought it would be my country.
Currently in Washington, there are proposals to eliminate
agencies that provide federal funding to libraries all across America. Despite
its tiny budget, the Institute of Museum and Library Services is on the chopping
block. ILMS funds grants to libraries and museums of all kinds - rural
libraries, tribal libraries, suburban libraries, inner city libraries, school
libraries. If you know anything about libraries, you know they do everything on
a shoestring. Now even the shoestring will be gone.
Someone explained to me that it’s easy to eliminate agencies
with small budgets because if the budget is small that program must not be very
important.
When I look at my home budget, I notice that one of the
smallest outlays is for water.
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| from Karen Jensen, School Library Journal |
Many years ago, news icon Walter Cronkite said, “Whatever
the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant
nation.”
Many in the ignorant nation think libraries are non-essential.
Everyone has a smart phone, right? The “let them eat cake” people say, “just
Google it.”
Tell that to a librarian who sees thousands of kids without
books of their own, homeless teens doing their homework on a library computer, small
business owners researching tax strategies, students struggling to discern real
news from fake, and immigrants trying to get a better job by checking out test
prep materials that you can’t get on the internet.
If you love your libraries and want to help, check out this easy to use site from the American Library Association. On Twitter you can follow #saveIMLS.
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