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Library Lovers’ Month
See graph showing square footage
February is Library Lovers’ Month! What do you love about your library? Isaac Asimov thought of a library as an “open door to
wonder and achievement.” Open
for all people, no matter where you are from, how much education you
have attained, or what your credentials are.
The beauty of a library is that it levels the playing ground for
the haves and the have-nots. The
most vital libraries are not only places of learning, but also centers
of culture and community. Does
this fit your image of the Independence Public Library?
It doesn’t fit with mine.
Yes, I am the library director, and I am admitting that our
library does not measure up! Most
readers are probably thinking, well…you’re in charge, change it!
That’s why I am writing this article…as much as my
independent streak hates to admit it, I can’t do it by myself.
I need your support. Our
library lacks necessary resources that could enable it to become such a
place. Money is one of
those resources, and an adequate facility is another.
230 towns around the state have built or renovated
libraries in the last ten years. I’ve
read articles about the need to replace the 50-year-old libraries that
are crumbling. Our library
is 109 years old. It may
not look like it is crumbling on the first floor, but you would probably
begin to change your mind if you were able to go up to the second or
third floors or venture into the basement.
You can’t go to those areas, however, because they were closed
to the public as of January 20th,
2004. They have been
declared off-limits to patrons for safety reasons.
4000+ of our library books are located upstairs, but you can’t
browse those shelves. Where
will we put them now? I
honestly don’t know. If
you’ve been in the library lately, you know that there is no more room
on the shelves and there is no room to add shelves.
Not only is the library not wheelchair accessible, it is no
longer accessible to the general public.
The fact that we aren’t accessible also leads to less funding
from the state because we cannot be accredited for that very reason.
Our library is 2341 square feet in size.
As you can see by the following graph, Anamosa Public Library is
closest in size to us, but they will be opening a new 14,298 square foot
library in July of this year. The average for towns in Iowa with a population between
5000-7000 is 10,234 square feet, almost five times our size.
Libraries use a larger space to allow patrons to
enjoy different opportunities at the library concurrently. We could have 80 plus patrons effectively browsing, reading,
using computers, studying, and participating in programs at the same
time with adequate space and an effective floor plan.
Next month, I will illustrate how libraries in towns like ours
use 10,000-17,000 square feet of space to provide opportunities for
their communities.
As our Independence Public Library Building Committee meets to get organized and plan for positive changes in the future, you can support them in many different ways. The first way is to visit your library. Don’t take my word for the condition of our library, check it out for yourself!
See graph showing square footage
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