Thursday, April 15, 2010

I love libraries, do you?

I’m without a car for a few days :( so I thought it would be a fantastic time to catch up on my blogs. This is definitely better than unpacking from my move last week.

Since it is National Library Week, I thought I’d write about library advocacy and promotion. What does this mean to you? Do you think “the word” about libraries is getting out? I think so... to an extent.

In the past few years, I’ve noticed more and more people realizing the importance of libraries and what we offer. A friend of a friend just recently said how excited she was that she was able to rent movies for free from the library. My mom has started going to the library again for books because money is tight. A patron came in the other day and said he can no longer afford internet service at home, so he uses the library’s internet service. I’m very happy to see that more people are realizing what we offer, but should we be a “last resort” when money is tight? In my opinion, these people should have known all along that these services are here for them. Why didn’t they? Is there not enough promotion of libraries?

Over the past few years I’ve also noticed a bit more discussion of libraries and the danger that we’re in. The save-your-library attitude may not have to be so strong if we had a similar attitude all along. I’m kind of rambling here, I know. I guess what I’m saying is the appreciation of libraries should be continuous, whether money is tight or not, whether libraries are facing severe budget cuts or not. As future librarians, I think we have a big chance to change the way the public looks at libraries.



All I know is that I love my library, and have loved it since I was a kid. Everyone else should, too.

0 comments: