Turn on the news, any day of the week, and you’ll find something to cry over; war casualties, famine, lost jobs, foreclosed houses. Just yesterday my daughter and I got teary over a story of a 71 yr. old man fighting with a coal mining company to save the property his father and grandfather grew up on.
Sure there are plenty of things to cheer about as well but the news is determined to point out despair and desperation, just in case we start feeling too hopeful.
With so much misery at our fingertips why cry over a lousy library closing?
- libraries are physical reminders of our community’s past and the commitment our ancestors had to learning and improving themselves.
- libraries teach kids to read.
- libraries are free public spaces were everyone is welcomed equally despite their life circumstances.
- libraries are places to gather, talk and learn from each other.
- libraries are beautiful.
- librarians help people get jobs, find a recipe, go to college, learn to knit or learn languages.
- libraries offer books that teach skills, provide hope, offer escape and inspire.
- libraries are free.
- library programs introduce us to people, places and experiences we have never imagined.
- libraries are safe, warm and welcoming.
- libraries are in no hurry to rush you out the door.
Sure you can look up the weather on the Internet, print out coupons, read the paper and waste hours of your life on Facebook and I Tunes - IF you have a computer, but don’t confuse that with the soul of a community. And don’t imagine that we can eliminate libraries and books from our society without destroying our democracy and the people in it.
That thought is enough to make anyone cry, I hope.
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