"I don't need libraries so nobody else does" - All op-ed columnists

I just read another story about the irrelevance of public libraries by a privileged, white man who has never stepped foot in the library he is writing about. In this lame op-ed in the Huffington Post, Michael Rosemblum has decided to go ahead and describe the future of libraries by using himself as the sole example of people who use libraries: "Even though I lived right across the street from it for many years, I never went inside. I never sat in its reading room. I never checked out a book. I never explored its stacks to go through old volumes of bound periodicals in some research project." So that means that no one did, or at least no one worth mentioning.

These "libraries in crisis" articles are published every few months by all sorts of forward-thinking writers and are meant to make some sort of cultural commentary on the state of society. What these stories about the obsolete nature of libraries never do is take into account all of the people who are not like the author. These authors have decided that we all don't need libraries for the following reasons: The author can afford to pay for the internet and any media subscriptions he or she needs,  the author can afford to buy books, the author is employed, the author is literate and went to college, the author has access to cultural institutions, the author remembers when libraries had card catalogs and now they don't, the author may or may not have children but in any event kids use iPads, and of course Google.

All of these reasons are cited again and again across internet news outlets whenever a library near a writer's home is being built, remodeled, or changes in some way. And while all of these reasons for the unnecessary nature of libraries might add up for the author or people just like the author, for many people the library is something wholly different and completely necessary.  

For many people, the library is a lifeline to news and information, education, unemployment resources, government assistance programs, technology training, and career development. It is a place that parents can take their children (for free) that provides them with literacy programs taught by professional librarians, books, technology resources, and a safe space to learn and engage with others. It is a place for students to go for homework help and tutoring after school, and to hang out with friends off of the street. It is a place for anyone. And in New York City, where Rosenblum lives, there were over 16 million visits to the New York Public Library last year. Certainly there are people who can afford not to go to libraries. But for most people it is a place they cannot afford to be without. And in a democracy, we allow access to information and knowledge to all of our citizens.

Kids on computers at a library, what?!

As for the argument that because of the internet we don't need libraries, it's the same as saying that because we can buy books we also don't need libraries. Just because the internet exists and we can get information faster than ever doesn't mean that everyone has access to this.Wireless internet connections are not currently free, computers are not currently free, and many reputable news sources and research databases are not currently free. And even when information is "free" we are still paying with our personal information. The library is one of the few places where people can truly find information for free because of the American Library Association's Electronic Computer Privacy Act which protects the privacy of personal records and internet search histories.

Then there's Rosenblum's argument that because libraries are no longer just about books they aren't really libraries anymore: "Library: a place for gathering people, giving people the opportunity to encounter each other....Well, there you have it. Another 3,000 year old institution killed by the web." I understand that change is difficult to adapt to. But to me, the fact that cities and towns across America are dedicating libraries as community spaces in addition to places that house books, technology, and other media, is really smart. Public libraries are for everyone, and by evolving libraries are reflecting more users' needs.

One of the biggest reasons for the idea that libraries aren't needed, aside from the fact that these writers are openly omitting any portion of the population that are unlike themselves, is that libraries are romanticized. Writers, who are ironically dealing with many of the same issues as libraries when it comes to content dissemination, like to remember a simpler time when libraries only served one purpose (which was never really the case). Categorizing public spaces makes it easier to think about complicated issues like access to technology, poverty and wage discrepancies, social factors and privilege. But to determine that rather than allow libraries to change based on the needs of many, they should instead not exist based on the nostalgic notions of a few, is a very narrow way to think about not only libraries but the world.  Libraries are changing and that's a good thing for everyone, even the people writing about how much they don't need them.

No one normal misses this.

Bookmobiles: the food trucks of libraries

Living in Los Angeles means a couple of things, lots of traffic, lots of warm weather and cute outfits, and lots of food trucks.  The idea behind food trucks seems to be revolutionary, or at least a fun twist on the old idea of food vendor carts or the infamous roach coach.  But libraries have been using the idea behind food trucks for almost as long as public libraries have been around in the United States.

Bookmobiles, as library "food trucks" are commonly referred to, are used to bring books and resources to areas in communities that either don't have a public library building, or are in remote rural locations.  One of the earliest bookmobiles in the United States was in South Carolina called the Free People's Library that used a mule-drawn carriage to serve rural areas starting in 1904.  Today bookmobiles continue to innovate as people are starting to see the value in these roving libraries not just as giant book carts, but as garden centers, art hubs, storytelling experiences, and WiFi hotpots.

Courtesy of my bf other Kelly via somewhere on tumblr

While bookmobile services are used most often for senior citizens, people with disabilities, and those living in poverty, I think that the future of book mobiles will be as an integral part of establishing and growing stronger communities.  There are many urban and suburban areas that have libraries and other community amenities within driving distance, but not within walking distance.  Bookmobile routes that stop at parks, public transit locations, malls, parking lots, and other under-used spaces could be a really fun and convenient way to use the library.

Taking this idea a step further, bookmobiles could be used for special collections within libraries in order to bring these resources and ideas to more people.  Music, art, and science specific bookmobiles such as those at the San Francisco Public Library could be tracked much like food trucks, and used as spaces for creativity and learning.  Look for libraries to start rolling out apps to follow bookmobiles, along with more specified types of trucks.  Even Pinterest has a pinboard dedicated to bookmobiles, and it's a lot more inspiring then ThinSpo (gross, but if you're into that think of bookmobiles as no calorie food trucks).

Why The Handmaid's Tale won't come true

I’m reading Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, for the first time. And while the book was written almost thirty years ago, there are still scary cultural and political parallels between the environment in the book and our current time.  But I just can’t imagine a world where information is so suppressed that we become servile in order to survive.  But then, I work at a library where the freedom to read and the freedom of information are the cornerstones of the profession.  I’m lucky to study and work in this world.  But I know that there is a much larger world outside of this.  A world that doesn’t understand why libraries are relevant, and that thinks books are dead.

What we hear over and over again in the media is that libraries are irrelevant, that information comes from the internet, and that spending money on public libraries is a waste, especially during economic downturns.  But what people fail to remember, or even realize, is that the internet, and the search engines we use to navigate it, are censored.  The information we receive may seem abundant, and it is.  But it is also prescribed to us based on our preferences and we are certainly not kept anonymous as users.  Public libraries are the last places where we can anonymously access information, and where our privacy is protected by law.  Public libraries do not keep records of book borrowing history and do not censor what is being borrowed by anyone regardless of gender, race, religion or age. 

In the dystopian future depicted in The Handmaid’s Tale, society becomes so far “lost” in morality that a fundamentalist conservative movement gains power and enforces laws that treat humans as physical vessels for procreation.  Intellect, sexuality, and physicality are all restricted to the basic levels necessary to stay alive.   People are kept this way through forced ignorance and complete lack of access to information.  The basic human right to information is gone, and what comes of it is a terrifying society where our bodies and minds are separated, no one is whole.

As I’m reading I keep thinking that libraries, especially public libraries, keep us from this future.  Through lending books, yes, but also through the ability to meet in a common space we share with our neighbors.  So if this notion is outdated, then what do we have to look forward to in the future?  It’s not so idealistic to imagine a world where neighbors share space, knowledge, and respect for one another.  It happens at public libraries every day.