Your Library Connection
Libraries More Relevant than Ever
During National Library Week, you probably noticed several activities and programs were going on at the Independence Public Library. The Des Moines Public Library opened their new central facility during National Library Week. What an awesome way to celebrate National Library Week! With the new library opening, there were several interesting library articles printed in the Sunday, April 2nd Des Moines Register. Susan Craig, president of the Iowa Library Association wrote “Libraries more relevant than ever”. Susan has given me permission to reprint her article. Enjoy!
Is a public library relevant today? In the past decade, some prominent scholars and politicians have questioned the need for libraries. The death knell is premature, and it is wrong.
Public libraries are needed today more than ever. As protectors of free expression and free access to ideas, as providers of lifelong learning opportunities and as a vital community center, the public library fills a role that is not only necessary but increasingly relevant in today’s society.
Public libraries are among the most American of institutions. They reflect and protect essential values of free speech and equal opportunity. A former Des Moines Public Library director, Forrest Spaulding, was a key figure in libraries’ fight for these values. He wrote the first Library Bill of Rights, which was later adopted by the American Library Association and remains a cornerstone of that association’s values today.
The Library Bill of Rights calls for libraries to collect materials reflecting all opinions, make them available to all people and to challenge censorship. In an era of extreme polarization of thought and political correctness, this is not always an easy or popular stance, but it is the right one.
The public library’s role in education is often undervalued. The public library not only augments school libraries and provides reference materials to students enrolled in formal classes, but also serves as the primary educational resource for everyone who isn’t a student. At the public library, preschoolers gain the pre-reading skills vital to success when they get to school, and adults find answers to questions, resources to learn a new skill, books to read and movies to watch.
Equal opportunity is a goal that is often unobtainable, but the public library works to make it a reality. All are treated equally. There is no charge for basic services. In modern times, this is nowhere more evident and relevant than in the free Internet services that public libraries provide. Just as access to books, magazines and newspapers was essential 100 years ago, so is access to the Internet today. People who cannot afford computers and Internet connections in their homes can go to the public library. This service, literally, makes the world available and is increasingly the only source for many types of information. Today’s public library is also a vital community center. Meeting and discussion rooms provide spaces for conversation and learning. Children’s rooms offer opportunities for socialization as well as learning. At a time when we need more coming together rather than segregation, more constructive dialogue rather than partisan rhetoric, the public library provides a neutral gathering place.
At any hour, on any day, the new Central Library of Des Moines will hold a microcosm of the Des Moines community – children and elderly, wealthy and homeless, Christian and Muslim, Ph.D. and GED – coming together in a single place to pursue their interests, collectively and individually.
What could be more relevant?
Library Tidbits:
Vote for Riverside Cinema by Saturday, April 22nd! Riverside Cinema events are movies in the River Walk Park shown on a 10’x13’ screen. Help decide what movies will be shown in the park this summer!
Wednesday morning (9:30 am) storytimes coming up are Bunny Hop, Isn’t it just Ducky?, and Rain, Rain, go away!
May 23rd at 6:30 Bonnie Koloc, a musician and visual artist, will present A Bestiary: Beasts of the Farm. She combines her series of linoleum block prints depicting thirteen farm animals with poems and music!
Summer is fast approaching and so is the summer library reading program! Watch for more information about Paws, Claws, Scales, and Tales!
Don’t forget to check out books on tape and/or CD to make the time go faster as you travel this spring.
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