Libraries in the Wild

My Memorial Day weekend included venturing off into the wilds of Massachusetts/Rhode Island with my mother, during which we discovered:

*Rhode Island is a ridiculously small state
*The Talking GPS Lady is not to be trusted
*Public libraries are awesome

This last realization was prompted by our discovery of the Cumberland Public Library, which is nested inside a beautiful monastery building. Cumberland PL saved us from an aimless evening with its free wifi and comfy chairs, giving me another idea for the value of public libraries: rest and planning stations for befuddled travelers.

I don't have any budget details, but the library seemed well-off, with automatic doors and plenty of workshops and classes advertised -- including dowsing, which I found intriguing. I took photos of a few of the 'library advocacy' posters that were sprinkled throughout the building, too.

Which got me thinking about library advocacy for public libraries, and how much of it is the 'luck of the draw' in terms of having a patron population that already places a high value on literacy and the library as a community space (and fair amounts of free time/disposable income). The Catch-22 is, of course, that the libraries most in need of advocacy - those in poorer communities, with patrons who have little enough time between jobs and child care - those libraries are the most difficult to generate support for, because there isn't the same pro-reading/education tradition and/or (more crucially) there just isn't enough time and money to go around. And forget support from the wealthier sectors -- no one is going to jump for 'paying' for libraries that they see as waystations for homeless people and immigrants.

As much as I love to come into a public library and see it really thriving, it always brings up a twinge of...indignation? sadness? Because all libraries should be like this, not just the ones in the 'nicer' communities. Everyone deserves access to this sort of public refuge.

*Addendum: Pictures from the trip to be added soon (hopefully). Meanwhile, this morning I took a jaunt down to Mike's Diner:

I highly recommend the chocolate chip pancakes, and my waitress was an absolute angel. Thank you, Mike's!