Love Your Library!

    Years ago, when Josephine County libraries closed for lack of funds, the news went national. At that time it was unthinkable for a community not to have a library.

    Forbes (which, we should note, is an economics, not a humanities, publication) recently printed an article to the effect that libraries are no longer needed and that Amazon, of all things, should replace them with retail outlets.

    Preposterous! This suggestion obviously comes from someone who is either wealthy enough to buy all their books (doubtful—not the wealth part; the desire for books part) or so device-reliant they don't read books (probable) and certainly someone out of touch with their not-virtual community. Librarians, public officials, and ordinary citizens responded with such outrage that Forbes tucked its tail between its legs and deleted the article from its web site.

    I hope they learned their lesson.

    When Josephine County had a levy in an attempt to keep the libraries open, one of my students said she wasn't going to vote for it. When I asked why, she shrugged and said, "I don't use the library. Why should I pay for it?"

    That's something of the attitude of the Forbes writer. Neither person had a notion about what libraries do for our communities. Libraries are community centers in many places, not least in the Applegate. They provide internet access in rural areas, like mine, where internet service is unreliable and in many cases unattainable. They offer tech help, ebooks, audio books, a library of things, book club packets, and interesting, entertaining, informative, and often important programs. In times of climate crisis, libraries serve as cooling centers. And they have books! Real books, books you can hold in your hand, whose pages you can turn, whose shelves you can browse. If you think libraries aren't worth your taxes, check out the one in your neighborhood.

    In past centuries innovative architecture went into cathedrals. Today, the architectural beauties are often our libraries, which I think is a wonderful commentary on what we feel is important. The Seattle Library, for instance, is a Rem Koolhaas creation and is stunningly beautiful. Other libraries around the world have brilliant architecture. Google "best library architecture" and take a look. 

    I am proud of our libraries. I do use my library—I am on the board of its Friends group—but even people who don't use them should be proud of them.