Roving I: Check Out Your Local Library

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Next week is National Library Week! Enjoy your local library.

First, let me state for (on) the record, I work in a library, so I may be a little biased in the tone of this column. I will try to stay objective, as journalists are supposed to, but if I stray from that path and veer off into the realm of public relations – well, you can’t say you weren’t warned. To help you know that I know the words or phrases in my column that might come across as a little sales-y regarding libraries, I have preceded them with (bias alert) so that you will know I am aware of my waxing somewhat hyperbolic there.

I know libraries aren’t exactly a sexy topic for a column, but now that I’m fifty years old, I’ve become aware that sexiness is not the most important thing in life. My column is a plea of sorts on behalf of that (bias alert) wonderful community institution known as the public library. Or, as it has come to be better known to many in recent years, the place where you can get free Internet access. I hope you and I have crossed paths there recently. I’m one of the women (and men) who sits behind the Information Desk and helps our patrons (library-speak for customers) to find what they’re looking for in the building, everything from the best sellers to the bathroom. I enjoy helping people and helping to preserve and prolong the existence of the library, which by some accounts is going the way of the dinosaur. And when you think about it, there are some good reasons not to make the trip there these days. I mean, do you really need to deal with the hideous traffic in our area to get to the library when you can simply turn on your home computer and log into the catalog? And if you do make the trek there, do you really need to say hello to the staff when you can return and check out your books using the computers that the library (bias alert) so generously provides? Some patrons might even conclude that the library has become automated so that the employees won’t have to interact with the patrons any more. However, I’m here to tell you that’s definitely not the case. While library employees may have a reputation for being bookish (pun intended) and antisocial, we honestly (bias alert) love it when our patrons come in and ask us questions and use our services. And there are many services to be enjoyed! We offer storytelling programs for kids, computer classes for adults, book clubs, concerts, to name a few things that encourage our patrons to interact with us. And we have lots and lots of (bias alert) great books to read, from classics to bestsellers. And, yes, we do have free Internet access if you need it. But equally important to the services and materials we offer, or maybe even more so, is the opportunity the library provides for you to meet some of your neighbors and fellow community members. Everyone’s welcome at the public library. We don’t ask you to show any identification to come inside. The only things we ask is that you please turn off your cell phone when you enter the building, talk in your “library voice” (this goes for adults as well as kids, by the way), and that you hopefully leave the library feeling at least as happy as you did when you came in, if not more so.

I’ll end my plea for the public library by saying that I hope to see you in the library soon. There’s a free library card with your name on it just waiting for you to sign it and start using it. And a quiet space you can escape to when you need a break from the noise of modern life.(bias alert) Pretty darned cool, if you ask me – maybe not all that sexy, but definitely cool.