Fran Mancino is librarian at St. Edward's University in Austin and has been actively involved with public and private libraries all her adult life. As a parent, she volunteered in school libraries and helped her children participate in story hour at the public library.
Cleveland Public Library an early book mobile |
Cleveland Library (branch) a good place to grow |
Library Advocacy Day is June 29The community library is one of the few public institutions that opens its doors and welcomes all, from infants to seniors. A library card is generally free for residents. The library provides programming from story hours to seminars, literacy training, free reference service and now access to an online world of databases and web searching. We have access to CDs, DVDs, tapes, Kurzweil machines. Special libraries have recordings for the blind and text enhancers. Resources for job hunting are there for the asking.
The message is not only to think about what libraries
can do for us but to rally support for continued funding.
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The importance of libraries with trained staff is critical in this information age. With the proliferation and ease of searches on the internet, assistance in finding and evaluating relevant information becomes even more important. Future citizens must be taught to critically evaluate information and who better to help with that than a librarian?
Library Advocacy Day is something we can all support. View the video below. Register to support the American Library Association. Stop to consider how communities would change if there were no libraries and be vocal in support of them. Students, parents, teachers--everyone can speak and write in defense of these life-changing environments. We can’t let our library doors close and deny the magical gift of reading to future generations. Begin your own love affair with your local library.
Hi Fran. Your story reminds me of my own childhood. I loved walking to the library with my brothers and sisters and returning home with an armful of books. We all "nurtured our imagination" during story hour, just as you described. The kind librarians knew us all by name. In a family that could sometimes be frazzled (with eight lively children) the library was peaceful and orderly, and the books were filled with images of fascinating people and places. Thank you for this important message. I will do my part for free public libraries.
ReplyDeleteYour post was beautifully written and quite nostalgic; it evoked memories that can only be experienced within the walls of a good library. The future would be bleak indeed were libraries to close. Perhaps we need to write our representatives but with the current financial burden facing our government we might also petition Walmart to step up and help support the local libraries. FORBES magazine recognized Walmart Stores as the No.1 most generous company in 2008. I’m certain most of the cities that are facing budget cuts have a Walmart. A quick search on the internet revealed Walmart has given grants to the Chatham, Illinois, the Fayetteville, Arkansas and the California State library system. As the world’s No. 1 retailer Walmart may be the most successful business in the areas that are the hardest hit with library closures. Perhaps we should all petition Walmart and ask them to use some of their philanthropic capital to help keep our local libraries open- if they were to participate we could then be assured that when we shop at Walmart we were doing something to support our local library.
ReplyDeleteTheir address is: Walmart Foundation
702 S.W. 8th street Bentonville, Arkansas 72716-0150
The hours have been cut at our library and I can’t understand why we would cut the population off from such a rich resource of knowledge when we are facing economic decline and are asked to revive our creative and entrepreneurial spirit. The printed word is what separates us the haves and the have-nots. The true gifts of this world, the wealth that can be acquired without the fear of loss is the richness that comes from education and adventure- and what better vehicle to relish the adventure and receive an education than a good book. It can carry us to unknown places, soothe our soul when our life is tedious, teach us new skills and awaken our imagination. This is exactly what we need in these uncertain times. We all need to step up and do what we can to keep the libraries open. Thank you for your inspirational post.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all who commented and expressed their love of libraries, too. The fiscal news is not good, so we need to make our communities aware of the importance of libraries.
ReplyDelete